14 DAY TRIAL // After years of toil, Kodak can finally see a clear light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and it isn't because of the successful sale of that patent portfolio that Apple tried to contest for a while.
The reason Kodak believes it might succeed in recovering from its bankruptcy is the $844 million financing approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper of the Southern District of New York.
Kodak filed for bankruptcy back in January 2012, and the new ruling gives it the last money it needs to make its initial hopes come true.
Specifically, Kodak estimated it would manage to revive itself by the middle of 2013. The $844 million / 633 million Euro are the final ingredient for success.
Sadly, however, this does not mean the corporation will ever regain what it has lost.
The company has not only left the camera business, but it has also sold its film and kiosk divisions, and has exited the consumer printing industry.
Kodak's activities, and their effects on the IT landscape, have been quite multi-faceted these past 24 months.
In addition to everything we've already mentioned, Kodak has also sued Apple and RIM over patent infringement, but has lost.
In a similar fashion, Apple sued Kodak over alleged ownership of some of the patents the latter wanted to sell through an auction.
This move also failed when Apple was denied the bid to move the case from the bankruptcy court to a district court. In the end, Apple allied with Google to buy the technology portfolio. Kodak made $525 million off the auction (394 million Euro) in December 2012.
In the second half of the ongoing year, Kodak should finally be able to say what it would do in the future. Having already lent its name to JK Imaging products, it might try to play the weight of its brand for a while, before it figures out what products it will make.