I've never heard of ANY patent lasting only 7 years, 17 is about the minimum isnt it?. JCO
> -----Original Message----- > From: Gregory L. Hansen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 3:49 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: End of K-mount? > > > Mike Johnston said: > > > But where have you heard about Pentax introducing USM or IS lenses? From > > what I've heard, both those technologies are closely controlled > by Canon. > > The only reason Nikon has them is that MITI forced Canon to > share. Olympus, > > for instance, had a big hit with the digital UZI, but could not make a > > successor because Canon would not let it license the IS > technology again. I > > don�t have any inside track or any great knowledge of this, but > personally I > > doubt very much we'll see any Pentax lenses with either of these > > technologies at any time in the foreseeable future. > > I thought the patent protected Canon for seven years, and it's expired > now. Although I could be wrong or simply unsophisticated in the ways of > patents. >
