Kodak

Eastman Kodak Co has agreed to sell its online photo services business to Shutterfly Inc for USD23.8 million, kicking off the bankrupt photography pioneer's re-launch as a much slimmer company although a patent sale seen crucial to its turnaround may still be months away.

The once-iconic company that invented the hand-held camera has said it will quit the camera business and is expected to fetch USD1 billion to USD2b from the sale of about 1,100 digital patents, which is due to get under way by 30 June.

Even as the specter of bankruptcy protection looms, Eastman Kodak Co. is intensifying its efforts to defend its intellectual property. In a lawsuit it filed in New York on Friday against Fujifilm Corp., Kodak claimed some of its Japanese rival's cameras infringe its digital-imaging technology. At the beginning of the week, Kodak sued Apple Inc. and HTC Corp. claiming some of their smartphones, tablets and other devices infringe Kodak patents related to transmitting images.

Eastman Kodak Company announced on Thursday that, consistent with its previously announced intention to sell non-core assets to sharpen the Company's focus on its digital growth initiatives and accelerate Kodak's transformation to a digital company, it has agreed to sell its Eastman Gelatine Corporation business to Rousselot, part of the Netherlands-based Vion Food Group.