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Fujifilm Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Kodak

Fujifilm Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Eastman Kodak Company

Hanover Park, Ill. – FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Communication Division today announced that FUJIFILM Corporation filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK) in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Fujifilm has asserted four patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 10,427,443, 10,525,696, 10,875,346, and 11,294,279) pertaining to various aspects of processless lithographic printing plate technologies, including method and apparatus claims.

Fujifilm is seeking remedies including damages and injunctive relief related to Eastman Kodak’s unauthorized commercial manufacture, use, offer to sell, or sale within the United States, and/or importation of its processless lithographic printing plate products that infringe the four asserted patents, including those sold under the product name “SONORA X” and the brand umbrella name “SONORA XTRA”.

“Fujifilm is committed to protecting its significant research and development investments, and in bringing innovative printing plate technologies to customers around the world,” commented Toyoyuki “Tommy” Katagiri, division president, FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Communication Division. “We will enforce and protect our innovation and intellectual property rights in the United States and around the world when we believe others infringe unfairly.”

Separately in October 2023 and December 2023 respectively, Eastman Kodak’s European subsidiaries, Kodak GmbH, Kodak Graphic Communications GmbH, and Kodak Holding GmbH, were sued by FUJIFILM Corporation for infringement of the related European counterparts of the US patents-in-suit in the Unified Patent Court and in Germany.

“We will continue to protect our intellectual property in processless lithographic printing plates, to the benefit of our customers, including small, family-owned printing businesses, as well as medium- and large-sized printing businesses,” added Katagiri.

Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Patent Spotted (and 23mmF1.4)

The patent for the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 lens (as well as 23mmF1.4) has been spotted by the Japanese website Asobinet here.

This is just a variation of what would ultimately become the Sigma 23mm f/1.4 DC DN, so there are close to zero chances that Sigma will release also the Sigma 20mm f/1.4.

List of Sigma APS-C Lens Patents

Sigma X Mount Lenses

Patent Details

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Tamron Will Launch Six Lenses in 2024, and here are the Three Patented Tamron APS-C lenses

Tamron has shared its financial result. In there, they write that they will launch six new lenses in 2024, as highlighted by SonyAlphaRumors.

And in future they might even launch 7 lenses a year.

Of course Tamron covers many mounts, so don’t expect all these lenses to come for Fujifilm.

But there are some dedicated APS-C lenses that Tamron has patented and I will share down below for you.

Feel free to let us know your favourite of the three.

Patent Articles

Available Now

Sigma 14mmF1.8, Sigma 12mmF1.4 and Sigma 10mmF1.4 APS-C Lens Patent Spotted

Sigma patents for the following lenses have now been spotted by asobinet.

  • Sigma 10mm f/1.4
  • Sigma 12mm f/1.4
  • Sigma 14mm f/1.8

Full List of Patented APS-C lenses by Sigma and Tamron

Patent Articles

Sigma X Mount Lenses

Patent Details

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Sigma 50-135mm f/2.8 DC DN APS-C Lens Patent Found

Recently we made a recap of all the Sigma and Tamron patented APS-C lenses.

Well, it looks like we have to add another one to the list as spotted by the Japanese website asobinet:

  • Sigma 50-135mm f/2.8 DC DN

Looking at the patent details, asobinet concludes that aberration is beautifully corrected in the entire zoom area and it has no internal zoom, unlike the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS full frame lens.

The new patent is very similar to the already patented Sigma 50-140mm f/2.8 DC DN and that was very high on your wishlist when I launched the survey asking you which patented Sigma/Tamron lens you’d like to get.

Patented APS-C lenses by Sigma and Tamron

Patent Details

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

The Future Sigma and Tamron APS-C lenses in Patents – Vote the Lens You’d Like to Get

In July we wrote a very popular article about Fujifilm’s future based on patents Fuji has filed.

And of course not only Fujifilm is filing all sorts of patents. Also other brands do.

So out of curiosity I’ve looked back into which APS-C lenses Sigma and Tamron have patented.

Patented APS-C lenses by Sigma and Tamron

Which of the ones above would you like to see become real? Vote below.

But always keep in mind: it’s not said that patents will materialize into a real product, as we explained more precisely here.

Out of the patented Sigma and Tamron lenses, I would like to get...

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All Sigma and Tamron lenses Currently Available for Fujifilm X

Fujifilm Patents Fujinon XF 18-300mmF3.5-6.5 OIS, XF 16-200mmF3.5-6.5 OIS and XF 16-150mmF4-6.5 OIS

A few months ago we wrote a dedicated article about “Fujifilm patents”, where we dig deep into every single patent ever registered since the existence of the Fujifilm X series.

And we saw: out of 67 patents, not a single one became a real product until now.

I made this huge effort to go through 10+ years of articles on FujiRumors and find every single patent ever shared, because I noticed the tendency by many in the X shooter community to take such patents as rocksolid indication of what is Fujifilm will launch in future.

My goal is to Invite you to take these patents for what they are: products that in 99,9999% of the cases will exist only on paper.

With that said, today we have three more patents to add to the list as they have been spotted by the Japanese website asobinet.

  • Fujinon XF 18-300mm f/3.5-6.5 OIS

Given the lovely Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3, I see no urgency for the Fujinon XF 18-300mm f/3.5-6.5 OIS.

  • Fujinon XF 16-150mm f/4-6.5 OIS

The Fujinon XF 16-150mm f/4-6.5 OIS might be a bit too close to the Fujinon XF18-120mm f/4 LM PZ WR and one of my favorite X mount lenses, the XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR

  • Fujinon XF 16-200mm f/3.5-6.5 OIS

Fujinon XF 16-200mm f/3.5-6.5 OIS could be the only that could make sense to me as a meaningful addition to the X series lineup.

But forget patents, follow the rumors.

And the rumors say, that the next XF lens we will get is the replacement of this lens here.

Patent Details

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm X100V Successor Rumors :: Fuji’s Future in Patents :: Lots of GFX100II Rumors and More – Top 10 August Articles

Here are the top 10 articles for August.

The most read article was actually one shared back in July, but the interest for this camera is so big, that it’s still there on top.

  1. LEAKED: Trusted Source Unveils When Fujifilm X100V Successor Will Come
  2. The Future of Fujifilm in Patents: Full Frame Lenses Coming, X100 with 20mmF2 lens, Foldable Fuji Smartphone and More
  3. Viltrox 27mm f/1.2 First Impression Reviews, Specs and Samples
  4. BREAKING: This is the Name of the New Film Simulation Coming September 12
  5. Fujifilm Manager Interview: A Look into Fuji’s Deep Learning AF, Why X-T5 has No Battery Grip, Firmware Improvements and More
  6. Fujifilm X Summit September 12 with GFX100 Successor and 3 GF Lenses Coming (And More?)
  7. RUMOR: Fujifilm GFX100 Replacement Coming with New Sensor
  8. Fujifilm GFX100 Successor about the Size of GFX100S but With Angled Top Plate
  9. Fujifilm GFX100II VIDEO SPECS: 8K and 4K/60p Video, 10 bit 4:2:2 and ProRes Internal
  10. Don’t Worry: Fujifilm GFX100 Successor Still with Detachable and Tiltable EVF (unlike GFX50S Successor)

And here are the top 10 watched videos in August. Some of them come from locations in the Dolomites that you don’t want to miss if you ever come here.




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The Future of Fujifilm in Patents: Full Frame Lenses Coming, X100 with 20mmF2 lens, Foldable Fuji Smartphone and More

The Future of Fujifilm in Patents

Why Fujifilm?

Why?

Why are you doing this?

There is no need for one, totally wasted R&D.

These lenses make no sense!

That’s how some of the comments sounded on my various platforms after I have published the latest patents of the XF56mmF1.7 and re-designed XF18mmF1.4.

And these comments came after I warned you in the article that in 11+ years of blogging I have never seen a patent actually become a real product.

And despite my repeated warnings, some people keep taking those patents as an indication of what’s really coming next from Fujifilm.

But if it was really like this… I mean, if patents would really show us the way that Fujifilm is taking, then where are:

So, even though I feel a bit like Don Quixote fighting the windmills, I will give it another try today.

But I’ll take a different approach this time.

Because, well aware that a good number of people don’t go beyond the headline, I decided to create a headline that shows how absurd it is to put any trust in these patents. And hopefully, this will motivate people to look deeper into this subject.

And how do we look deeper into it?

Well, in this article we look at the 67 patents FujiRumors has shared starting from our first one posted back in 2012 until the latest one here.

Give them a look, and then make up your own mind if you should take patents as solid indications of future products.

All the Patents (Have Fun :))

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujinon XF56mm f/1.7 Patent Spotted (plus XF18mmF1.4 with Slightly Different Optical System)

In 11+ years of sharing patents on FujiRumors, I have NEVER seen a single patent being shared that later on materialized into a real product.

This is why I warn you again: the patents you’ll read about today will remain on paper forever.

And no, the lens you see in the image above is not from the patent, but from a wildlife lens survey/article we shared in the past, were a reader made a mock-up of the lens.

via asobinet

Patent Details

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