Last Updated on 10/30/2013 by Felix Esser
In the aftermath of Kodak’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company (or what remains of it) will see a $75.8 million royalty payment from Ricoh, the new owner of the Pentax camera brand. Kodak originally sued Ricoh back in April 2012, shortly after the company’s acquisition of Pentax, who Kodak claimed had never signed an imaging licensing agreement with them. During the trial at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York this week, the jury ruled in favor of Kodak. However, the two companies had already settled the matter outside of court, agreeing on a payment of US-$ 69 million plus interest.
This is a very interesting development, especially considering that Kodak has in the meantime sold its digital imaging patents. They will receive the money nonetheless, as they were still holding the patents at the time of Ricoh’s acquisition of the Pentax brand.
For a recollection of the events leading to Kodak’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy emergence, see this article.
