Bankrupt Kodak Gets Boost As Judge OKs Patent Sales Over Apple Protest

Bankrupt Eastman Kodak (Pink: EKDKQ), the imaging giant, got its biggest boost in months after the judge overseeing its case approved the sale of as many as 1,100 patents.

Shares of Kodak, based in Rochester, N.Y., jumped more than 4 percent to 24 cents, up a penny, following the approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alan Gropper in Manhattan.

The value of Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 19, is only $66 million, a fraction of the value CEO Antonio F. Perez believes is in its patent portfolio.

Last August, Perez hired Lazard Freres (NYSE: LAZ) to auction them as a block, hoping to take in as much as $2.2 billion. The effort failed, creating the crunch that led to the bankruptcy.

The judge ruled over the objections of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, over 10 patents.

Previously Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., won a preliminary ruling against Apple before the U.S. International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial agency, that a patent had been infringed. The judge declared the patent invalid, though, and Kodak has appealed that ruling.

Kodak's chief intellectual property officer, Timothy Lynch, said the company was gratified by Judge Gropper's ruling. Under its current plan, bidders will have until July 30 to submit their applications.

In the event of more than one qualified bid, Kodak will hold an auction on Aug. 8, he said.

Apple shares rose $6.89 to $599.41 in Tuesday trading.