As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, Eastman Kodak has put 1,100 patents on the block.
They are expected to be sold at auction on August 8.
There was reportedly a Monday deadline for initial bids according to what “people familiar with the matter” told the Wall Street Journal.
Apple, teamed with Microsoft and Nathan Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures, and Google in company with RPX, Samsung, LG and HTC are believed to be after them for protection.
Apple and Google were on opposite sides in the great Nortel patent auction last year and Apple and Microsoft et al walked off with the IP for $4.5 billion, a victory the inflated the expectations of patent holders everywhere.