Re: Odd statement from Canon

In article <n2tNe.1681$sw6.1461@fed1read05>, Skip M <shadowcatcher@xxxxxxx> writes 
"Tony Polson" <tp@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:v7kcg1hblsh4bgml398653denqfg3vorg8@xxxxxxxxxx

"Skip M" <shadowcatcher@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Well, they must have left something out, since one version of Sigma's HSM
lacks full time manual, and both versions sound like coffee grinders
compared to Canon's versions.


That's Sigma for you.  I recall dismantling my Sigma 24mm f/2.8 for
Nikon AF which was noisy, only to find large quantities of brass swarf
and powder where the AF mechanism used to be.  It ground itself into
oblivion.

USM was probably too specialized for Sigma to
say they hit on it by independent research.


Agreed.

The mount may not have been
strictly patentable, since it is a concept, broadly speaking...


The mount is not the real issue, it is the electronic interface.


True, and I wonder if you can patent the placement of wires, which, after
all, is what the interface boils down to.

Such matters are normally outside the scope of patents and fall into "Design Rights", at least in Europe.

I don't know whether the US or Japan IP laws are the same, but here in the UK (and EU) there is a "can fit/must fit" letout* that allows makers of add-on parts to follow the exact shape and design of an interface to which their part must fit. This is presumably to encourage competition. That is of course not at all the same as the independent maker being able to copy the design of the accessory part itself, they would need to avoid patent infringements and copying the actual parts themselves if protected by design right etc.

*S213(3) Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988

David
--
David Littlewood
.

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