On 2012-02-11 20:06:24 +0000, Alan Browne said:

On 2012-02-11 14:48 , Pete A wrote:
On 2012-02-10 22:04:20 +0000, Alan Browne said:

On 2012-02-09 19:56 , Mxsmanic wrote:
Alan Browne writes:

Trying to sell patents...

What will happen after all the patents are sold?

The idea behind patents is to be able to manufacture new inventions
without
competition for a brief period. Just selling patents is a dead end.

Not selling them while the company disappears robs shareholders of
their value. OTOH, at the rate they're disappearing (equity wise) I'm
not sure there will be any cash left over after creditors take their
bites. Can creditors make claims on the patents and sell them (?).

I'd been wondering about the patents issue. Sorry this is long-winded,
but it suggests to me that it depends on the outcome of the ruling on
bankruptcy protection:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16625725

Seen other similar articles. (NYT/Bberg/ etc.)

I really don't get why Citigroup has given them a $1B LOC - do they
have first dibs on patent sale revenue?

As usual, shareholders are the ones who get the least - in this case
activist sh's are trying to get organized:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards...ge_id=71623871

As to the patents, there does not seem to be a long line of people
lining up. Valuations vary between 2.4 and $2.75B - though Kodak
believe it has "higher strategic value" to the right suitor (whoever
the hell that is - eg: wishful).

As so often happens, the value of things is determined by only a
handful of people, most of whom are very ignorant of the details - they
just happen to be good at dealing with the stresses of "dealing"!

The pecking order of creditors is something that seems to be surprising
denizens of the UK this year - the purchaser of faulty goods from a
failing company is so low on the list that "consumer rights" have flown
out of the window. Few even know how to make a claim through the Small
Claims Court, let alone have the resources to undertake the task.
However, the court does not have the power to alter the pecking order.
"Buyer Beware" isn't yet an obsolete phrase - strangely, investors have
more sway than the consumers who fund their investments.

The main reason that shares fall in value is because some dickhead
wakes up on a Monday morning deciding to sell shares in company xyz for
no other reason than...