Unable to sell off some of its 1,100 patents to stay out of debt, Eastman Kodak Co. is preparing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection filing. If successful, Kodak will have sold 10 percent of the company's patent portfolio, and will have potentially generated $3 billion in sales.

Currently, Kodak has obtained $950 million in financing from Citibank to maintain operations, which will allow the company to...