Kodak says camera sensor may eliminate flash

By Franklin Paul

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co. (EK.N) said on Thursday it has developed digital camera technology that nearly eliminates the need for flash photography, part of the company's effort to make money from its deep patent portfolio.

The world's biggest maker of photographic film says its proprietary sensor technology significantly increases sensitivity to light. Image sensors act as a digital camera's eyes by converting light into an electric charge to begin the capture process.

Kodak, which is in the last year of a lengthy and expensive transformation into a digital photography company as its film business shrinks, intends to lean on its wealth of intellectual property to boost its bottom line, expecting up to $250 million this year alone in royalties and related revenues.

For example, Chief Executive Antonio Perez has previously said its new inkjet printer strategy grew out of the discovery of existing, unused patents for printer ink.

"Our strategy is to get it out of the lab and onto the street," said Chris McNiffe, general manager, Kodak Image Sensor Solutions.

Analysts have looked at that outlook skeptically, since Kodak has given few details about the types of patents it intends to exploit. Moreover they say licensing contracts are incremental and hard to bank on in the long term.

"They have been guarded about their portfolio, with certain degrees of success," said analyst Christopher Chute of research firm IDC. "But at the end of the day you need to have invented something or have some kind of intellectual property in order to maintain a market position."

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