Eastman Kodak announced Monday evening it won approval to auction off its digital imaging patent portfolios.

Kodak says a bankruptcy court ruled that Apple and its former subsidiary FlashPoint did not have ownership to about ten of the 1,100 patents in the Digital Capture and Kodak Imaging Systems and Services portfolios.

The claims by Apple and FlashPoint held up Kodak's attempt to auction off the patents for much-needed cash as it makes its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

"The patent portfolio that Kodak has is quite valuable. And we're about to find how valuable,” said George Conboy, financial analyst. “It's expected that the portfolio will sell for somewhere around two billion dollars. Could be as much as three billion. That would be great for Kodak. Could be as low as a billion. That would be a disaster, but without this cash the company cannot survive or emerge from bankruptcy."

Kodak hopes to hold that auction by early next month.