Jun 03, 2022 07:00:00

New features of Nikon's flagship model 'Nikon Z 9' are sued for patent violation

The mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera '

Nikon Z 9 ' released by Nikon in December 2021 is compatible with '12bit 8.3K / 60p RAW video internal recording' with firmware Ver.2.00 distributed in April 2022. However, RED Digital Cinema, a well-known manufacturer of professional cinema cameras, has filed a lawsuit alleging that 'Nikon Z 9's RAW file recording technology infringes its patents.'

Red.com, LLC v. Nikon Corporation et al, 8:22-cv-01048 (CDCal.)
https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/California_Central_District_Court/8--22-cv-01048/Red.com_LLC_v._Nikon_Corporation_et_al/

RED is suing Nikon for infringing on its video compression patents --Nikon Rumors
https://nikonrumors.com/2022/05/26/red-is-suing-nikon-for-infringing-on-its-video-compression-patents.aspx/

RED Digital Cinema is a company that develops and sells professional cinema cameras with high image quality and relatively low cost. RED Digital Cinema has obtained a patent for developing its own RAW data compression technology that compresses video files shot with a camera while maintaining high quality. I have filed a lawsuit saying that it is in conflict.

The patents obtained by RED Digital Cinema include the idea of 'compressing the RAW data output by the Bayer array sensor' in addition to the data compression technology. In 2019, Apple filed a (PDF file) objection to the US Patent and Trademark Office, saying that 'the patents owned by RED Digital Cinema are not novel,' but the Patent and Trademark Office dismissed the objection.

The new subject of the patent lawsuit by RED Digital Cinema is the function to save the 12-bit video RAW data added in the Nikon Z 9 firmware Ver.2.00 in the camera. At the time of writing the article, it is not clear whether the function will be removed from the Nikon Z 9.

Hacker News, a news sharing service, pointed out that there is a patent for the patent infringement claim by RED Digital Cinema that anyone can think of that the Bayer array sensor outputs and compresses the data. It has been sent. On the other hand, there is also an opinion that 'At the time when RED Digital Cinema was patented , the Bayer array sensor was not used in the cinema camera, and it can be said that the idea of RED Digital Cinema was novel.'