Archive for: patents

Canon Tops Among Japanese Companies in U.S. Patent Rankings for Tenth Consecutive Year

TOKYO, January 13, 2015—Canon Inc. again ranked first among Japanese companies and third overall for the number of U.S. patents awarded in 2014, according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services on January 12, 2015.

Canon actively promotes the globalization of its business and places great value on obtaining patents overseas, carefully adhering to a patent-filing strategy that pursues patents in essential countries and regions while taking into consideration the business strategies and technology and product trends unique to each location. Among these, the United States, with its many high-tech companies and large market scale, represents a particularly important region in terms of business expansion and technology alliances.

Canon U.S. patent ranking among Japanese companies 2005 – 2014

* Number in parenthesis represents Canon’s ranking among all companies
Note: Number of patents for 2014 based on preliminary figures released by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. Figures for 2005 to 2013 tabulated by Canon based on information issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Canon prizes its corporate DNA of placing a high priority on technology. And with regard to research and development results, the Company actively promotes the acquisition of patent rights in accordance with the management direction of the Canon Group and technology trends while conducting thorough pre-application searches to raise the quality of applications. Through close cooperation between Canon’s technology and intellectual property divisions, the Company aims to improve its technological capabilities while further enhancing its intellectual property rights.

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New 65 f/2.8 & 180 f/3.5 Macro Patents

65 f/2.8 Macro

Patent Publication No. 2011-191743

• 2011.9.29 Release Date
• Filing date 2010.2.16

Example 8

• Focal length f = 65.00mm
• Fno 2.90 – 3.05 – 3.96
• Half angle of 18.41 °
• Image height 21.64
• 145.08mm Length Lens
• Back Focus 38.20 – 47.63 – 37.80mm
• Positive and negative lens group of positive and negative 4
• Inner Focus + Rear Focus
• Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 to move the focus method

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Canon Patents This Week

New Macros and Tilt Shifts Coming?
Recent patents have shown new Macro and Tilt-Shift lenses. Below I’ve listed them.

Explain a patent
You cannot patent a lens per se, but you can patent an optical formula. I think it’s safe to talk about patents, as many of them have turned into actual consumer products.

Canon 50mm 1:1 f/2.8 Macro

Canon 90mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift

Canon 35mm f/2.8 1:2 Macro

Patent Publication No. 2011-107313
Published 2011.6.2
Filled 2009.11.16

50mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro

• Focal distance f=50.20mm
• Fno=2.90
• Half angle of view 23.32 deg.
• Image height 21.64mm
• Lens length 84.64mm
• Back focus 40.01mm
• Macro -0.950x

90mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift

• Focal distance f=90.40mm
• Fno=2.90
• Half angle of view 17.90 deg.
• Image height 29.20mm
• Lens length 117.18mm
• Back focus 65.43mm
• Macro -0.480x

35mm f/2.8 1:2 Macroa

• Focal distance f=35.20mm
• Fno=2.90
• Half angle of view 31.58 deg.
• Image height 21.64mm
• Lens length 102.44mm
• Back focus 40.10mm
• Macro -0.480x

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EF 16-40 f/4L IS [CR1]

A replacement to the 17-40 f/4L?
Apparently a patent for an EF 16-40 f/4L IS will be filed soon and I’m told to keep an eye for it over the next couple of weeks.

CR’s Take
The 17-40 is one of the best values in “L” lenses and is a cash cow for Canon. It does need improvements on the edges and Nikon stabilized their f/4 full frame wide angle. It’s a believable replacement.

cr

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Canon EF 17-40 f/4L $839 @ B&H

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Cool Tamron Patent

I know, I said “cool” and Tamron in the same sentence. It’s true though.

Want to IS/VC your lenses? Just add this converter!

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