Apple and Google have made bids of between $150 million and $250 million for over 1,100 patents held by Eastman Kodak according to the Wall Street Journal.
Kodak is selling the patents, which it believes could be worth $2.6 billion, in order to repay creditors. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in January after failing to keep up as consumers and rivals shifted to digital photography from film photography.
Nortel Networks sold its patent portfolio for $4.5 billion in 2011, despite initial bids of just $900 million.
A spokeswoman for the company declined to discuss the report in detail, citing court-ordered confidentiality surrounding the auction process.
"Kodak believes that speculation about the details and potential outcome of the auction is inappropriate," spokeswoman Stefanie Goodsell said on Monday.
Bids can rise quickly in bankruptcy auctions. Nortel Networks sold its patent portfolio for $4.5 billion in 2011, despite initial bids of just $900 million.
Kodak's auction is slated to begin on Wednesday morning.
The rivalry between Apple and Google continues to intensify as the iPhone maker has announced it will not pre-loaded Google's YouTube app on its next generation smartphone.
