Kodak: Patents Hold the Key to the Future - Essay Example

Patents are thus a way to protect companies from losing their profits entirely and to keep them safe from going bankrupt. 2. Kodak was a company that brought new technology in photography and thus held a dominant place in the market for a very long time. They had an advantage as their products were patented meaning no other company could use their invention to make any profits for twenty years. This implies that any company who uses their invention before the expiry period would be facing a lawsuit from Kodak and would have to pay heavy settlement money for patent infringement.

The company is said to have been breathing its last breaths and is on the brink of bankruptcy. They have to present a reorganizational plan till the deadline of 15th February 2013 under the terms of the bankruptcy protection. For them, till now their patents were all they had to regain their lost position as none of their other tactics seemed to work. 3. As most of Kodak’s patents expire, the company will have to come up with a reorganization plan that will get it out of its lost position.

According to Antonio Perez the Chairman and CEO of Kodak they are restructuring the company by rebalancing it towards packaging, functional and commercial printing. They will use their competitive edge in deposition technology and material science along with their knowledge of digital imaging to capitalize on their prospects and market growth. Kodak had its patents on auction but the bids they received from Apple and Google were 150 million and 250 million billion dollars respectively. After these bids, they decided that they might not sell their patents.

They have to fight for their survival and use all the weapons they have got against their losses and big competitors such as Apple and Samsung. How they manage to come out successful is yet to see.