Canon Ranks Among Top Three U.S. Patent Holders For 2015

[Canon Rumors]

<em>Company Reaches New Annual Record With More Than 4,100 Patents Granted</em></p>
<p><b>MELVILLE, N.Y.</b> — Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to announce that its parent company, Canon Inc., has yet again, ranked third for U.S. patent holders in 2015. According to patent results issued by <a href="http://www.ificlaims.com/index.php?page=misc_top_50_2014" target="_blank">IFI CLAIMS Patent Services</a>, Canon was granted a total of 4,134 patents in 2015, a new record annual high for the Company. This is the 30<sup>th</sup> consecutive year that Canon Inc., has been ranked among the top five U.S. patent holders and for the 11<sup>th</sup> consecutive year, ranked first among Japanese companies for the number of U.S. patents granted.</p>
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<p>“Research and development play a vital role to the innovation and growth of our company. As a top leader in patents year after year, we continue to provide advanced technologies and solutions to our customers and are able to strengthen our position in new markets,” said Seymour Liebman, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel, Canon U.S.A., Inc.</p>
<p>Canon puts great emphasis on providing technology that is ever-changing. 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.</p>
<p>For more information on Canon and its products, please visit <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/" target="_self"><strong>www.usa.canon.com</strong></a>.</p>
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[nightscape123]

Canon, stifling innovation to control the market for 11 years in a row!

This doesn't really seem to be something to be proud of.

Maybe they should try producing the best products instead of preventing all the other companies from being the best while releasing small incremental upgrades.

 

[Orangutan]

Canon, stifling innovation to control the market for 11 years in a row!

This doesn't really seem to be something to be proud of.

Maybe they should try producing the best products instead of preventing all the other companies from being the best while releasing small incremental upgrades.

If there were no patents, Sony would be obligated to share their Exmor technology with Canon, Intel would be obligated to share their fabrication technology with AMD, and Apple would be obligated to share their design patents with every Android maker.

The argument against patents is often attractive to young people who don't have a lot of experience in the world. And it's true that there are some serious problems with the intellectual property system that need to be corrected, such as patent trolls; however, removing IP protection would also have problems. In the "old days" before patents, companies kept all of the technology secret for as long as they could, and never revealed it to anyone. That meant that the knowledge had to be limited to a small, "need-to-know" group, limiting the intellectual growth of the employees. If there were no patents, companies that devised new designs would add intentional obfuscation to thwart reverse-engineering. That takes time and resources away from innovation.

By allowing a reasonable time of exclusivity, it allows the company to realize a profit on their invention without hoarding the information. When the patent expires, the information is shared. I'm no patent expert, but I assume could you search the Interwebs for reasonable intellectual property reform. (be sure to skip Reddit, though). Here are a few that come to my mind:

• Better patent vetting to eliminate simple extensions or combinations of prior art; add penalties for companies that ask for truly inappropriate patents
• Crack down on patent trolls.
• Shorten the patent duration for evolutionary changes; allow longer protection for revolutionary changes
• Better/longer protection for inventions by individuals or very small businesses (it takes longer for an individual to realize a profit)
• Get rid of almost all software patents: only truly revolutionary algorithms should be patentable

Please do think a bit deeper about these issues before coming to blanket conclusions.

 

[Loswr]

Canon, stifling innovation to control the market for 11 years in a row!

Right, their patents are the main reason Canon is the dSLR market leader. :

Please do think a bit deeper about these issues before coming to blanket conclusions.

+1

 

[rrcphoto]

Canon, stifling innovation to control the market for 11 years in a row!

This doesn't really seem to be something to be proud of.

Maybe they should try producing the best products instead of preventing all the other companies from being the best while releasing small incremental upgrades.

obviously you have no idea how the real world works

 

[nehemiah]

Top Ten Patents in the USA 2014:
1) IBM 7534
2) Samsung 4952
3) Canon 4055
4) Sony 3224
5) Microsoft 2829

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/45793.wss

Companies that don't know what they're doing.

 

[AshtonNekolah]

Haha and they say canon is no good all those complaints that they not doing this and that, and ohh if they dont put this im leaving, and 15 stops of DR aint enough, haha, Thumbs up Canon, Keep up the Outstanding work.

 

[Adelino]

Canon, stifling innovation to control the market for 11 years in a row!

This doesn't really seem to be something to be proud of.

Maybe they should try producing the best products instead of preventing all the other companies from being the best while releasing small incremental upgrades.

If there were no patents, Sony would be obligated to share their Exmor technology with Canon, Intel would be obligated to share their fabrication technology with AMD, and Apple would be obligated to share their design patents with every Android maker.

The argument against patents is often attractive to young people who don't have a lot of experience in the world. And it's true that there are some serious problems with the intellectual property system that need to be corrected, such as patent trolls; however, removing IP protection would also have problems. In the "old days" before patents, companies kept all of the technology secret for as long as they could, and never revealed it to anyone. That meant that the knowledge had to be limited to a small, "need-to-know" group, limiting the intellectual growth of the employees. If there were no patents, companies that devised new designs would add intentional obfuscation to thwart reverse-engineering. That takes time and resources away from innovation.

By allowing a reasonable time of exclusivity, it allows the company to realize a profit on their invention without hoarding the information. When the patent expires, the information is shared. I'm no patent expert, but I assume could you search the Interwebs for reasonable intellectual property reform. (be sure to skip Reddit, though). Here are a few that come to my mind:

• Better patent vetting to eliminate simple extensions or combinations of prior art; add penalties for companies that ask for truly inappropriate patents
• Crack down on patent trolls.
• Shorten the patent duration for evolutionary changes; allow longer protection for revolutionary changes
• Better/longer protection for inventions by individuals or very small businesses (it takes longer for an individual to realize a profit)
• Get rid of almost all software patents: only truly revolutionary algorithms should be patentable

Please do think a bit deeper about these issues before coming to blanket conclusions.

The original post didn't say anything about wanting to get rid of patents, or did I miss something? I took at as Canon should implement their extensive patents more aggressively in their new products.

 

[Orangutan]

The original post didn't say anything about wanting to get rid of patents, or did I miss something? I took at as Canon should implement their extensive patents more aggressively in their new products.

It was certainly implied strongly

Canon, stifling innovation to control the market for 11 years in a row!

This doesn't really seem to be something to be proud of.

nightscape123 is clearly implying that Canon is using patents to control the markets, and that receiving patents is nothing to be proud of. It's a very VERY short step to infer that he thinks patents are inherently bad.