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January 19, 2012

A Kodak Moment

By failing to keep up with the times, Eastman Kodak drove itself into the ground, declaring bankruptcy. By stark contrast, competitor FujiFilm has done quite well for itself, including making wonderful digital cameras. Kodak's death rattle turned into a whine: "Kodak Chief Financial Officer Antoinette McCorvey said Apple, RIM and HTC Corp. took advantage of Kodak's weakened financial condition to drag out litigation over alleged violations of the company's intellectual property." Take a picture of this - a decent patent portfolio is no salvation from clueless management, with which the world is brimming, in every sector of commerce and government. The exceptions prove the rule. Kodak was no exception. Those same companies that held Kodak off patent licensing at arm's length will be the ones ponying up to buy Kodak's patent portfolio on the cheap in a bankruptcy auction, to use to bludgeon competitors like a money pinata, just as Kodak tried to.

Posted by Patent Hawk at January 19, 2012 1:16 PM | Patents In Business