(Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $525 million, a key step to bringing the photography pioneer out of bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.
The deal for the 1,100 patents allows Kodak to fulfill a condition for securing $830 million in financing.
The patent deal was reached with a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, and which includes some of the world's biggest technology companies, which will license or acquire the patents.
Those companies are Adobe Systems Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Fujifilm, Google Inc, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, HTC Corp, Microsoft Corp, Research In Motion Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Shutterfly Inc, according to court documents.
Kodak still must sell its personalized and document-imaging businesses as part of the financing package, and also has to resolve its UK pension obligation.
Kodak said the patent deal puts it on a path to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2013.
'Our progress has accelerated over the past several weeks as we prepare to emerge as a strong, sustainable company,' said Antonio Perez, chairman and chief executive of the Rochester, New York-based company.
The patent portfolio was expected to be a major asset for Kodak when it filed for bankruptcy in January. An outside firm had estimated the patents could be worth as much as $2.6 billion.
Kodak's patents hit the market as intellectual property values have soared and technology companies have plowed money into patent-related litigation.
For example, last year Nortel Networks sold 6,000 wireless patents in a bankruptcy auction for $4.5 billion and earlier this year Google spent $12.5 billion for patent-rich Motorola Mobility.
But Kodak's patent auction dragged on beyond the initial expectation that it would be wrapped up in August. One patent specialist blamed those early, overly optimistic valuations, which he said encouraged Kodak's team to set their sights too high.
'Unfortunately (Kodak management) was misled into thinking it was worth billions of dollars and it wasn't,' said Alex Poltorak, chairman of General Patent Corp, a patent licensing firm. 'I think they sold them at a very good price.'
He said after Google acquired Motorola, the search engine company no longer needed patents at any price, deflating the intellectual property market.
Kodak traces its roots to the 19th century and invented the handheld camera. But it has been unable to successfully shift to digital imaging.
It will likely be a different company when it exits bankruptcy, out of the consumer business and focused instead on providing products and services to the commercial imaging market.
The patent sale is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
The Kodak bankruptcy case is in Re: Eastman Kodak Co. et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Nick Zieminski,; John Wallace and Peter Galloway)
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Bankrupt Eastman Kodak to sell patents for $525 million
(Reuters) - Bankrupt camera maker Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $525 million to a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, a key step to ending its bankruptcy.
The photography pioneer said a portion of the payment will come from 12 intellectual property licensees organized by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation.
A sale of the roughly 1,100 patents, which Kodak has said could be worth as much as $2.6 billion, has been a key element of the Rochester, New York-based company's plans to shift its focus to commercial packaging and printing from photography.
The agreements are subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
The Kodak bankruptcy case is in Re: Eastman Kodak Co. et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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The photography pioneer said a portion of the payment will come from 12 intellectual property licensees organized by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation.
A sale of the roughly 1,100 patents, which Kodak has said could be worth as much as $2.6 billion, has been a key element of the Rochester, New York-based company's plans to shift its focus to commercial packaging and printing from photography.
The agreements are subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
The Kodak bankruptcy case is in Re: Eastman Kodak Co. et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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ITC judge sides with Apple against Google on phone patent
(Reuters) - Google's Motorola Mobility unit cannot assert a patent against Apple Inc which covers a sensor that stops phone users from dialing wrong numbers on touchscreen devices, a U.S. trade judge ruled.
In an entry on the U.S. International Trade Commission docket on Tuesday, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender ruled the Motorola patent invalid.
'We're disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options,' Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson said. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Apple has been litigating around the world against various manufacturers of phones that operate on Google's Android operating system. Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion this year, partly for its library of telecommunications patents.
The ITC, a U.S. trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods, is a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it can bar the importation of infringing products and because it issues decisions relatively quickly.
In August, the commission found that Apple had not violated three other Motorola patents, and ordered Pender to further examine the touchscreen sensor patent. The full ITC will now review Pender's latest ruling.
The case in the ITC is In the Matter of Certain Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, Computers and Components Thereof, 337-745.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Ken Wills)
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In an entry on the U.S. International Trade Commission docket on Tuesday, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender ruled the Motorola patent invalid.
'We're disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options,' Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson said. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Apple has been litigating around the world against various manufacturers of phones that operate on Google's Android operating system. Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion this year, partly for its library of telecommunications patents.
The ITC, a U.S. trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods, is a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it can bar the importation of infringing products and because it issues decisions relatively quickly.
In August, the commission found that Apple had not violated three other Motorola patents, and ordered Pender to further examine the touchscreen sensor patent. The full ITC will now review Pender's latest ruling.
The case in the ITC is In the Matter of Certain Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, Computers and Components Thereof, 337-745.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Ken Wills)
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Instagram says no plans to put user photos in ads
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Instagram, the popular photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc, said on Tuesday it has 'no plans' to incorporate user photos into ads in response to a growing public outcry over new privacy policies unveiled this week.
Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said in a blog post that users had incorrectly interpreted Instagram's revised terms of service, released on Monday, to mean that user photos would be sold to others without compensation.
'This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing,' Systrom said. 'To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.'
But Systrom said Instagram may display users' profile pictures and information about who they follow as part of an ad - a social marketing technique similar to what Facebook uses in its 'sponsored stories' ad product.
He added that Instagram will not incorporate users' uploaded photos as ads because the service wants 'to avoid things like advertising banners.'
Instagram, which is free to use, triggered an uproar this week when it revised its terms of service in order to begin carrying advertising.
Facebook bought the fast-growing photo service - now with 100 million users - earlier this year in a cash-and-stock deal valued initially at $1 billion. The transaction closed in September at $715 million, reflecting a decline in the value of Facebook shares.
(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
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Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said in a blog post that users had incorrectly interpreted Instagram's revised terms of service, released on Monday, to mean that user photos would be sold to others without compensation.
'This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing,' Systrom said. 'To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.'
But Systrom said Instagram may display users' profile pictures and information about who they follow as part of an ad - a social marketing technique similar to what Facebook uses in its 'sponsored stories' ad product.
He added that Instagram will not incorporate users' uploaded photos as ads because the service wants 'to avoid things like advertising banners.'
Instagram, which is free to use, triggered an uproar this week when it revised its terms of service in order to begin carrying advertising.
Facebook bought the fast-growing photo service - now with 100 million users - earlier this year in a cash-and-stock deal valued initially at $1 billion. The transaction closed in September at $715 million, reflecting a decline in the value of Facebook shares.
(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
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Oracle beats outlook, shrugs off fiscal debate
BOSTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Technology giant Oracle Corp said software sales growth will stay strong into the new year despite a looming fiscal crisis that investors have worried could cause a slump in IT spending.
Shares of the world's No. 3 software maker rose 2.6 percent after it reported fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings that surpassed Wall Street forecasts.
Oracle President Safra Catz told investors that businesses were still looking to spend money already allocated to 2012 technology budgets.
'Folks want to close deals,' she told analysts on a conference call following the earnings release on Tuesday. There has been 'no negative impact on pricing. Pricing remains very good for us.'
Oracle said software sales would grow 3 to 13 percent this quarter, which runs through February. It expects fiscal third-quarter hardware products sales to be flat to down 10 percent from a year ago.
The company's software and hardware forecasts were roughly in line with Wall Street expectations, according to FBR Markets analyst Daniel Ives.
Oracle reported that software sales and cloud software subscriptions rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter ended November 30.
Oracle had forecast that new software sales would climb 5 to 15 percent from a year earlier when it last reported earnings on September 20.
'I would call it an early Christmas present,' Ives said. 'It's a positive sign for the overall technology sector.'
Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.
Oracle posted a second-quarter profit, excluding items, of 64 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 61 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Jefferies & Co analyst Ross MacMillan said Oracle's results are encouraging for other makers of business software, many of which end their quarter on December 31.
OFF A CLIFF
Some investors have worried that corporations would postpone spending on technology projects because of uncertainty over the year-end deadline for Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama to reach a compromise to thwart an automatic rise in tax rates and government spending cuts.
Failing to reach a deal, economists say, could lead to another U.S. recession. Catz said Oracle's customers are still spending on software.
'What's going on in Washington - I don't know who it's necessarily influencing today. But I can tell you, our customers have been spending money with us even here in December.'
On Tuesday, Oracle forecast earnings per share in the current fiscal third quarter of 64 to 68 cents, excluding items. That was about level with an average forecast for 66 cents.
'It tells you that there's still money being spend by enterprises on software. It's not like the world has ground to a halt,' MacMillan said.
The picture was not so bright for Oracle's troubled hardware division, which it acquired with its $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems in January 2010. The division's revenue has fallen every quarter since it closed that deal.
Hardware systems product sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $734 million. Oracle had forecast that hardware sales would drop between 8 and 18 percent.
Chief Executive Larry Ellison told analysts he expected hardware systems revenue to start growing in the fiscal fourth quarter which begins March 1.
Oracle shares rose to $33.75 in extended trade after closing at $32.88 on Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang)
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Shares of the world's No. 3 software maker rose 2.6 percent after it reported fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings that surpassed Wall Street forecasts.
Oracle President Safra Catz told investors that businesses were still looking to spend money already allocated to 2012 technology budgets.
'Folks want to close deals,' she told analysts on a conference call following the earnings release on Tuesday. There has been 'no negative impact on pricing. Pricing remains very good for us.'
Oracle said software sales would grow 3 to 13 percent this quarter, which runs through February. It expects fiscal third-quarter hardware products sales to be flat to down 10 percent from a year ago.
The company's software and hardware forecasts were roughly in line with Wall Street expectations, according to FBR Markets analyst Daniel Ives.
Oracle reported that software sales and cloud software subscriptions rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter ended November 30.
Oracle had forecast that new software sales would climb 5 to 15 percent from a year earlier when it last reported earnings on September 20.
'I would call it an early Christmas present,' Ives said. 'It's a positive sign for the overall technology sector.'
Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.
Oracle posted a second-quarter profit, excluding items, of 64 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 61 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Jefferies & Co analyst Ross MacMillan said Oracle's results are encouraging for other makers of business software, many of which end their quarter on December 31.
OFF A CLIFF
Some investors have worried that corporations would postpone spending on technology projects because of uncertainty over the year-end deadline for Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama to reach a compromise to thwart an automatic rise in tax rates and government spending cuts.
Failing to reach a deal, economists say, could lead to another U.S. recession. Catz said Oracle's customers are still spending on software.
'What's going on in Washington - I don't know who it's necessarily influencing today. But I can tell you, our customers have been spending money with us even here in December.'
On Tuesday, Oracle forecast earnings per share in the current fiscal third quarter of 64 to 68 cents, excluding items. That was about level with an average forecast for 66 cents.
'It tells you that there's still money being spend by enterprises on software. It's not like the world has ground to a halt,' MacMillan said.
The picture was not so bright for Oracle's troubled hardware division, which it acquired with its $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems in January 2010. The division's revenue has fallen every quarter since it closed that deal.
Hardware systems product sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $734 million. Oracle had forecast that hardware sales would drop between 8 and 18 percent.
Chief Executive Larry Ellison told analysts he expected hardware systems revenue to start growing in the fiscal fourth quarter which begins March 1.
Oracle shares rose to $33.75 in extended trade after closing at $32.88 on Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang)
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Oracle beats outlook, easing "fiscal cliff" worries
BOSTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp's quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations on strong software sales growth, suggesting that the approach of the 'fiscal cliff' has yet to crimp corporate spending on technology.
Shares of the world's No. 3 software maker rose 2.6 percent on the news.
'I would call it an early Christmas present,' FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives said. 'It's a positive sign for the overall technology sector.'
The company reported that software sales and cloud software subscriptions rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter.
Oracle had forecast that new software sales would climb 5 to 15 percent from a year earlier when it last reported earnings on September 20.
Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.
Oracle posted a second-quarter profit, excluding items, of 64 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 61 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Jefferies & Co analyst Ross MacMillan said that Oracle's results are encouraging for other makers of business software, many of which end their quarter on December 31.
Some investors have worried that corporations would postpone spending on technology projects because of uncertainty over the year-end deadline for Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama to reach a compromise to thwart an automatic rise in tax rates and government spending cuts that economists say could lead to another U.S. recession.
'It tells you that there's still money being spend by enterprises on software. It's not like the world has ground to a halt,' MacMillan said.
The picture was not so bright for Oracle's troubled hardware division, which it acquired with its $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems in January 2010. The division's revenue has fallen every quarter since it closed that deal.
Hardware systems product sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $734 million. Oracle had forecast that hardware sales would drop between 8 and 18 percent.
Oracle shares rose to $33.75 in extended trade after closing at $32.88 on Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle. Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang)
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Shares of the world's No. 3 software maker rose 2.6 percent on the news.
'I would call it an early Christmas present,' FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives said. 'It's a positive sign for the overall technology sector.'
The company reported that software sales and cloud software subscriptions rose 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter.
Oracle had forecast that new software sales would climb 5 to 15 percent from a year earlier when it last reported earnings on September 20.
Investors pay close attention to new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important gauge of the company's future profits.
Oracle posted a second-quarter profit, excluding items, of 64 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 61 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Jefferies & Co analyst Ross MacMillan said that Oracle's results are encouraging for other makers of business software, many of which end their quarter on December 31.
Some investors have worried that corporations would postpone spending on technology projects because of uncertainty over the year-end deadline for Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama to reach a compromise to thwart an automatic rise in tax rates and government spending cuts that economists say could lead to another U.S. recession.
'It tells you that there's still money being spend by enterprises on software. It's not like the world has ground to a halt,' MacMillan said.
The picture was not so bright for Oracle's troubled hardware division, which it acquired with its $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems in January 2010. The division's revenue has fallen every quarter since it closed that deal.
Hardware systems product sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $734 million. Oracle had forecast that hardware sales would drop between 8 and 18 percent.
Oracle shares rose to $33.75 in extended trade after closing at $32.88 on Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle. Additional reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang)
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Samsung drops attempt to ban Apple sales in Europe
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Korea's Samsung Electronics on Tuesday said it would drop law suits aimed at banning the sale of Apple Inc. products in Europe just a day after scoring a victory in a battle in the United States with the maker of iPhones.
Samsung and Apple, the world's top two smartphone makers, have been locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries over the last 18 months since Apple sued Samsung, saying the Korean firm copied its best-selling iPhone and iPad.
On Tuesday, Samsung said it was dropping an attempt to stop the sale of some Apple products in Germany, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands, though it did not say it would halt its court battle for compensation.
'Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court,' the company said in a statement.
A spokesman for Apple declined to comment on Samsung's decision.
The decision comes a day after a judge rejected Apple Inc's request for a ban on the sale of Samsung Electronics' smartphones in the United States.
In August, Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad. The Samsung products run on the Android operating system, developed by Google.
In January, the European Commission opened an investigation into whether Samsung Electronics has distorted competition in the European mobile device market, breaking EU antitrust rules.
(Reporting by Simon Johnson, additional reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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Samsung and Apple, the world's top two smartphone makers, have been locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries over the last 18 months since Apple sued Samsung, saying the Korean firm copied its best-selling iPhone and iPad.
On Tuesday, Samsung said it was dropping an attempt to stop the sale of some Apple products in Germany, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands, though it did not say it would halt its court battle for compensation.
'Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court,' the company said in a statement.
A spokesman for Apple declined to comment on Samsung's decision.
The decision comes a day after a judge rejected Apple Inc's request for a ban on the sale of Samsung Electronics' smartphones in the United States.
In August, Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad. The Samsung products run on the Android operating system, developed by Google.
In January, the European Commission opened an investigation into whether Samsung Electronics has distorted competition in the European mobile device market, breaking EU antitrust rules.
(Reporting by Simon Johnson, additional reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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