It’s not often that you hear that Apple and Google — both fighting for utter smartphone dominance — have teamed up on anything, but reports from Bloomberg say it’s the case. And they’re both going in on a half a billion dollars worth of Kodak patents.
Kodak is selling that patents as part of its bankruptcy liquidation, and apparently there are valuable enough to cause Apple and Google to make temporary peace. At least, that’s what Bloomberg’s unnamed sources are saying. And while it might seem like an odd pairing, the alliance makes sense. This way both companies will get some patents, pay less for them and not have to worry about being sued by a rival. It’s a better bet than paying a fortune to outbid a competitor and then maybe still losing.
Apparently both Google and Apple had put up offers separately, with their own groups of allies. Now, with their powers combined, they can offer a higher sum and have a greater guarantee of snagging the 1,100 patent portfolio. And then they can go right back to fighting for market-share, as usual. [Bloomberg]