When a Giant Falls in the Woods Does it Make a Sound?

Eastman Kodak Co. filed for bankruptcy a few months ago, something the photo giant would have never seen coming in its early beginnings. Now it’s come to the time for the selling off of imaging patents, which the company’s creditors are counting on for payment.

Rumblings of other giants have been reported to be interested in purchase of the patents and though Kodak is looking to keep the auction process confidential, how quiet can several giants really be when gathered together? The Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple Inc., Microsoft, Google and Samsung are among the technology giants that are bidding on the patents.

The patents themselves cover the technology used in digital cameras, smartphones and tablet computers to capture, transmit, manipulate and store images. That patent alone is reported to have earned Kodak more than $3 billion over the past decade in licensing alone.

Currently though the questions arising seem to be over whether or not Kodak can offer to pay $4.5 million in incentives to employees as long as operational and restructuring benchmarks are reached. This has caused Tracy Hope Davis, a U.S. trustee and bankruptcy watchdog to bring up concerns about whether those would be illegal retention bonuses.

There is also talk of paying more than $17 billion which they are hoping will be an exercise in “morale-boosting” for nearly 200 employees. Residential Capital LLC says that the bonuses are needed to ensure employees "remain motivated in these difficult and taxing times."