Nine weeks ago, Nortel sold 6,000 of its patents for about $4.5 billion. Three weeks ago, Google paid $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility’s 17,000-plus patents. Google bought 1,000-plus patents from IBM in July and another 1,000-plus patents from IBM again this month.
Now, Kodak is looking to sell its digital imaging patents which may be worth $2 billion to $3 billion. This is more than the current value of the entire Kodak company which has a market value of about $210 millon. Kodak’s intellectual property is worth more than the company itself.
Intellectual property rights are the currency of the 21st century.
– Lesley Ellen Harris, “Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century”
Like the Kodak situation, the copyright in a photo can be worth more than the photograph itself. Copyright has real value. But only if you’re smart about it.
