A few days ago a US jury found that some of Canon’s digital cameras violate valid image-sensor patents owned by patent-licensing company Intellectual Ventures. The Jury held that the EOS 1DS Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II and Vixia Camcorders infringe 2 patents filed by Intellectual Ventures. So far Canon didn’t release any comment. The text below mentions also another company (Xilinx) Intellectual Ventures has settled a lawsuit against.

Reports Reuters:

[…] a U.S. jury on Friday found that Canon Inc violated two Intellectual Ventures patents over digital imaging technology. Damages will be decided at a later proceeding.

In a statement, Intellectual Ventures chief litigation counsel Melissa Finocchio said the company was pleased with the Canon verdict. An IV spokeswoman declined to comment on the Xilinx settlement. 

Representatives for […] Canon could not immediately be reached for comment

[…]

In the Canon lawsuit, also in a Delaware federal court, the jury on Friday upheld the validity of IV’s patents and found patent infringement, according to court filings. IV will now proceed to a second trial against Canon next week on two additional patents.

Read the rest at Reuters –>

New firmware releases for three of Canon top pro DSLRs.

Firmware Version 1.3.2 for the Canon EOS-1D Mark III camera incorporates the following fixes:

1. Resolves the following phenomenon: when the camera is not attached to a lens, power consumption may be higher than usual,
causing premature battery drain.
2. Resolves a phenomenon in which “Err 70” may be displayed when the shutter is released without a lens attached.

Firmware Version 1.1.4 for the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV camera incorporates the following fixes:

1. Resolves the following phenomenon: when the camera is not attached to a lens, power consumption may be higher than usual,
causing premature battery drain.
2. Resolves a phenomenon in which “Err 02” may be displayed when the shutter is released without a lens attached.

Firmware Version 1.2.3 for the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera incorporates the following fixes:

1. Resolves the following phenomenon: when the camera is not attached to a lens, power consumption may be higher than usual,
causing premature battery drain.
2. Resolves a phenomenon in which “Err 70” may be displayed when the shutter is released without a lens attached.