Martech: Martech is Marketing Logo
  • Topics
    Digital Transformation
    Marketing Operations
    Data
    Customer & Digital Experience
    Performance Marketing
    Marketing Management
    Special Reports
    MarTech Topics
  • Conference
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • What is MarTech
    Mission
    Staff
    Newsletter
    Search Engine Land
    Third Door Media

Processing...Please wait.

MarTech » Customer & Digital Experience » Strange Bedfellows: Apple-Google Team Up In $500MM Bid For Kodak Patents

Strange Bedfellows: Apple-Google Team Up In $500MM Bid For Kodak Patents

A few years ago it wouldn’t have been all that strange to see Google and Apple working closely together on something like a joint patent initiative. Then the “thermonuclear” rift happened and the cacophony of bitter lawsuits. Indeed, in the wake of the global litigation between Apple and Google surrogate Samsung and the more direct (Google owned) […]

Greg Sterling on December 10, 2012 at 10:22 am

A few years ago it wouldn’t have been all that strange to see Google and Apple working closely together on something like a joint patent initiative. Then the “thermonuclear” rift happened and the cacophony of bitter lawsuits.

Indeed, in the wake of the global litigation between Apple and Google surrogate Samsung and the more direct (Google owned) Motorola-Apple lawsuits, it’s very unlikely to see these two companies working together.

Yet BusinessWeek reports that Google and Apple have teamed up to bid $500 million for bankrupt Eastman Kodak Co.’s patent portfolio:

The two companies, competing for dominance of the smartphone market, have partnered after leading two separate groups this summer to buy some of Kodak’s 1,100 imaging patents, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.

Kodak is currently in bankruptcy and trying to emerge from that process. Its patent portfolio has been valued at more than $2 billion. It’s unclear whether the Apple-Google bid will succeed accordingly. It’s also not clear who else may be bidding against them.

However if the Google-Apple bid wins, neither party could use these patents against the other. And Google could license them to other Android handset OEMs to effectively insulate the Android ecosystem against legal action by Apple.

That’s what makes this a bit strange. It neutralizes the threat from both sides on these particular patents.

Perhaps this marks a change in the relationship of the companies in the wake Tim Cook’s ascendancy to the throne of Apple. The more litigation-averse Cook said he would rather not go to court unlike his more mercurial and combative predecessor.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


New on MarTech

    Worsening economy has more shoppers getting online info before making in-store purchases
    Getting Started with the Agile Marketing Navigator: Building a Marketing Backlog
    3 ways to dominate with Google Auction Insights and search intelligence
    Webinar: Work smarter, not harder, to give customers what they want
    B2B customer journeys that begin at review sites are significantly shorter

About The Author

Greg Sterling
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Related Topics

Customer & Digital ExperiencePerformance Marketing

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS The MarTech Conference logo.

September 28-29, 2022: Fall

Start Training Now: Master Classes

Start Discovering Now: Spring



The SMX Conference logo.

Start Training Now:: SMX Advanced

November 14-15, 2022: SMX Next

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes

Webinars

Agencies: Grow Revenue Streams Through Web Accessibility & Compliance

Protect Your Paid Advertising Spend Against Ad Fraud and Invalid Traffic

Build an Integrated Search Strategy Across Google, Amazon and YouTube

See More Webinars
Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports
Featured White Paper

5 Best Practices for Bringing Together All Your Marketing Data

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • Transformation
  • Operations
  • Data
  • Experience
  • Performance
  • Management
  • All Topics
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX

About

  • What is MarTech
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.