Nikon to sue Sigma

[Overread]

Nikon sues Sigma for '£95m' over DSLR lens patent (update) news - Amateur Photographer - news, camera reviews, lens reviews, camera equipment guides, photography courses, competitions, photography forums



As the title says apparently Nikon are going after Sigma for their use of vibration reduction technology (OS in sigma talk and VR in Nikon talk).

 

[Village Idiot]

Well is it a direct copy? Canon has IS. Can Canon sue both of them or is Nikon just that hard up for cash?

 

[Dao]

Does that mean Sigma OS technology is as good a Nikon VR?

 

[Josh66]

Does that mean Sigma OS technology is as good a Nikon VR?

Apparently Nikon thinks so.

 

[Overread]

Well is it a direct copy? Canon has IS. Can Canon sue both of them or is Nikon just that hard up for cash?

I did wonder if this wasn't just a move to recoup losses from the Japan disaster for Nikon. Thing is it does raise the question on if Canon will try and muscle in as well. Sigma have been upping their game recently with the quality of their glass.

Does that mean Sigma OS technology is as good a Nikon VR?

I've heard some good things of sigma's OS - though comparisions between VR/IS and OS in most reviews are mostly just a case of quoting the manufacturers spec. Few reviews really compare the stabalization effectiveness to any great level.

 

[o hey tyler]

Sooooooooooooooooo, what makes VR different than IS? Moreover what makes OS similar to VR enough for it to be considered "patent infringement"? They didn't seem to cover that in the article.

EDIT: I guess people jumped on that before I did. :lmao:

 

[Formatted]

Can Canon sue both of them or is Nikon just that hard up for cash?

No it cannot, Canon sold Nikon the technology.

 

[subscuck]

Not a lot of info there. It would seem to me that Nikon wouldn't bother unless Sigma is using something in their OS system that is proprietary to Nikon's VR sytem. It doesn't have to be an exact copy, one component is enough to make it an infringement.

 

[Village Idiot]

Can Canon sue both of them or is Nikon just that hard up for cash?

No it cannot, Canon sold Nikon the technology.

In that case, Canon should be the only one that has the reason to sue unless Nikon's VR is so vastly different from Canon's IS. If someone sells me the recipe for a twinky and I sue some one else making another fluffy creme filled dessert, It shouldn't be able to get away with it unless that there's an exclusivity contract in the purchase agreement and the twinky imposter is so similar that it's infringing on the exclusive recipe I purchased.

 

[subscuck]

Canon sold Nikon the technology.

I'd like to see verification of that. Not calling anyone out, I'd just never heard this and I'm curious now. My poor googling skills didn't turn up anything.

 

[Derrel]

Well is it a direct copy? Canon has IS. Can Canon sue both of them or is Nikon just that hard up for cash?

Nikon invented the first-ever Vibration Reduction system, and patented it several years before Canon had anything even remotely similar. Canon was however, the first company to put its own, **differently engineered** Image Stabilizer system into a production lens. Vibration Reduction and Image Stabilizer are differing systems, according to the engineering drawings I saw several years ago, and they each have slightly different engineering constraints; Vibration Reduction and Image Stabilizer are NOT the same in either design or implementation. That's why Canon and Nikon are cool with one another's products; Sigma on the other hand, is apparently infringing on the Vibration Reduction concepts that Nikon feels it owns, as the first inventor and first patent-holders on this "type" of technology.

 

[Big Mike]

Is this just inconvenient timing or would Nikon not have bothered to sue, had they not be struck by the disaster in Japan?

 

[subscuck]

Is this just inconvenient timing or would Nikon not have bothered to sue, had they not be struck by the disaster in Japan?

Usually suits like this are pretty long in the making. There's a ton of research and review that has to be done by patent attorneys then looked at by other attorneys, and so on. I'd be willing to say this goes back some time.

 

[Lee_Maryland]

Is this just inconvenient timing or would Nikon not have bothered to sue, had they not be struck by the disaster in Japan?

Usually suits like this are pretty long in the making. There's a ton of research and review that has to be done by patent attorneys then looked at by other attorneys, and so on. I'd be willing to say this goes back some time.

Agree on that...Nikon probably wont just go out and pick on sigma without research, or enough prove to open a case.

 

[Overread]

Whilst sigma do a lot of reverse designing I'd be surprised if they did this without realising how close to the line they are - it might just come down to a simple "I've got better lawyers than you" or "can hold this case longer in court" type affair if its really close.