Canon tops among Japanese companies in U.S. patent rankings for eleven years running

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Canon is filing a lot of patents, many reported here on Canon Watch. Canon press release:

Canon tops among Japanese companies in U.S. patent rankings for eleven years running

TOKYO, January 14, 2016—Canon Inc. again ranked first among Japanese companies and third overall for the number of U.S. patents awarded in 2015, according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services on January 13, 2016.

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 rankings among Japanese companies 2005–2015

Year Ranking* No. of patents
2015 1st (3rd) 4,134
2014 1st (3rd) 4,055
2013 1st (3rd) 3,820
2012 1st (3rd) 3,173
2011 1st (3rd) 2,818
2010 1st (4th) 2,551
2009 1st (4th) 2,200
2008 1st (3rd) 2,107
2007 1st (3rd) 1,983
2006 1st (3rd) 2,366
2005 1st (2nd) 1,829
* Number in parenthesis represents Canon’s ranking among all companies
Note: Number of patents for 2015 based on preliminary figures released by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. Figures for 2005 to 2014 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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Laowa STF 105mm f/2 (T/3.2) lens coming soon

Laowa STF 105mm F/2
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Thanks to Canon Watch reader mistral75 for sharing this.

After the Laowa 60mm f/2.8 Macro 2:1 and the Laowa 15mm f/4 Shift Macro 1:1 lenses, the Chinese company Anhui Changgeng Optical Technology Company Limited, better known as Venus Optics (see http://www.venuslens.net/about), will announce shortly a new 24×36 lens: the Laowa STF 105mm f/2 (T/3.2).

It is a portrait lens with an apodization filter that gives a more progressive and velvety bokeh than an ordinary lens (STF stands for Smooth Trans Focus). This is the same principle as for the Minolta AF / Sony 135mm f/2.8 [T/4.5] STF and close to that of the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R APD.

The Laowa has the advantage over the Sony of being one EV brighter. Hereafter its main features:

– 11 elements, including the apodization filter, 1 element made of glass with high refractive index and 3 elements made of low dispersion glass, in 8 groups
– Manual focus (the apodization filter is hostile for phase-detection autofocus)
– Minimum focusing distance: 90cm
– Maximum magnification: 0.16x
– Filter diameter: 67mm
– Dimensions: 76 mm (maximum diameter) x 98.9 mm (length) (depending on lens mount)
– Weight: 745 g (depending on lens mount)
– Available mounts: Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K, Sony A and Sony E
– Available in black and silver
– Launch date: January 18, 2016
– Price in China: the equivalent of €500-550 (probably more in Western countries)

 

You can find more details and many pictures taken with the lens on two threads from the Chinese forum Xitek, here and here

A set of full resolution JPG pictures shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III can be dowloaded here (password: 9351). You will also find a number of images (pictures of the lens, optical formula, MTF curves and a dozen of sample images as full-resolution jpeg files) in this dedicated Flickr album.