From friends to enemies – the relationship of the two pioneering companies has turned sour as they are both battling lawsuits over a number of patent infringements filed by one another.
But Kodak is truly experiencing a series of unfortunate events. After Kodak filed patent infringement lawsuits against Apple earlier this year, the photography firm has also filed for bankruptcy – something everyone has been expecting to happen. The company has seriously struggled to increase their sales soon after the digital cameras were introduced.
Kodak Inc., the pioneering company in the photography industry, has assets worth $5.1 billion and debts amounting to $6.8 billion. It is now seeking for bankruptcy protection to keep the company afloat. Citigroup has agreed to lend $950 million to help finance Kodak’s operations during the company’s struggling times.
But Apple, recognized as the most admired company by Fortune 500 in 2011, asked the bankruptcy court to prevent Kodak from using the disputed patents as loan collaterals. The company, which introduced the iPhone and iPad, claims that the patents actually belong to them.
Back in the 1990s, the two companies joined forces and worked together to come up with something innovative. At that time, Apple stated that it has disclosed some confidential digital technologies to Kodak with an agreement that whatever modifications or improvements made to these technologies, Apple still has the exclusive rights over them.
The battle between these two giants is expected to continue.
[via TUAW]
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