Kodak shares rise 17 percent on interest in patents

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Eastman Kodak Co jumped for the second trading session in a row as investors bet that Kodak would cash in on the hot demand for tech patents.

Tech patents, particularly ones for mobile devices, took the spotlight when Google Inc said on Monday that it would buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion in a deal that includes all the handset maker's patents.

On Wednesday, Kodak was the top gainer on the New York Stock Exchange with a 26 percent increase in share price.

Kodak, which said in July it was shopping around a portion of its patents related to digital imaging, is luring investors who are just starting to grasp how much money its patents could fetch.

Kodak's patent portfolio has been estimated by analysts to be worth between $2 billion and $3 billion.

The once iconic photo company said it had hired Lazard as an adviser on the patent sale.

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported the patents have drawn interest from a "strategic buyer in the wireless industry looking to use the patents for defensive protection."

Kodak declined to comment on the patent sale.

Shares rose 45 cents, or 16.7 percent, to $3.14 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, despite a sharp selloff in stocks generally.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)