According to an article on Bloomberg's Businessweek website, second-lien debt holders including Avenue Capital and Blackstone want the proceeds from any asset sale to be used to repay bondholders before any cash is poured into loss-making operations.

The bonds in question are secured against Kodak's patent portfolio and bondholders have reportedly met bankruptcy lawyers and restructuring advisers to look at the possibility of forming a committee to help ensure they are paid.

It has been suggested that the proceeds of the proposed patent sale could be used to repay unsecured debt that falls due in 2013, which would effectively place the unsecured creditors ahead of the secured creditors whose bonds do not mature until 2018.

Shannon Cross, an analyst at Cross Research, said: "Bondholders want the rights to the actual cash as opposed to trusting management to figure out how to monetise the assets and appropriately utilise the cash.

"What they're saying here is, we don't trust management to utilise our cash wisely so that we will actually get paid back someday."

A Kodak spokesman was quoted as saying that it was premature to discuss the use of patent proceeds before a sale had been concluded.

Bondholders are understood to be awaiting the announcement of Kodak's Q3 results on 3 November before taking any decision on whether to form a committee

Kodak's 7.25% unsecured bonds due to mature in 2013 are currently yielding around 60%.

The publication of bondholder concerns comes less than a fortnight after Kodak was forced to issue a statement denying that it was considering filing for bankruptcy.

Kodak issued the statement on the 30 September after Bloomberg reported that it was weighing a bankruptcy filing because of concerns raised by prospective buyers of its patent portfolio.

The article claimed that the buyers were concerned that the patent sale could amount to a fraudulent transfer if Kodak turned out to be insolvent. The rumour was apparently stoked by the fact Kodak had appointed Jones Day, a law firm specialising in restructuring, as one of its advisers.

Kodak's statement said: "Kodak is committed to meeting all of its obligations and has no intention of filing for bankruptcy. The company also continues to actively pursue its previously announced strategy to monetize its digital imaging patent portfolio. Kodak remains focused on meeting its commitments to customers and suppliers, and on delivering on its strategy to become a profitable, sustainable digital company.

"It is not unusual for a company in transformation to explore all options and to engage a variety of outside advisers, including financial and legal advisers. Jones Day is one of a number of advisers that Kodak is working with in that regard."