Nikon Sues Sigma For Vibration Reduction Lens Patent

May 27 19:31 2011 by Alexei Rivera Print This Article

We all thought the photography world was all fine and dandy and everybody gets along pretty well. (Except maybe Canon and Nikon) Apparently, we’re were wrong. Nikon Corporation just announced that they’re filing a lawsuit against Sigma Corporation for patent infringement on interchangeable lenses with vibration reduction for SLR cameras.

Nikon is a popular brand for DSLR and SLR camera bodies and produces their own lenses with a popular mount called the F mount. Some lenses come with Vibration Reduction (VR) to help prevent blur in images by compensating against hand movement and vibration. Sigma makes lenses for multiple brands and bodies, including their own cameras and Nikon bodies. Some of these lenses have their own version of anti-vibration mechanism called Optical Stabilization (OS).

Vibration Reduction (VR) also comes in multiple names throughout the entire photography spectrum. Canon calls it IS – Image Stabilization, Panasonic/Leica uses Power/Mega Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), and Sigma calls theirs OS – Optical Stabilization. Needless to say, it is commonly used in the photography world. Nikon believes that Sigma has infringed the patent on their Vibration Reduction technology – possibly through a similarity between their technical designs, and have tried to resolve the problems through negotiation. Since those fell through, Nikon decided that the only way it could protect it’s intellectual property was to file a lawsuit.

Guess producing third-party lenses for Nikon bodies all this time doesn’t instantly make Sigma Nikon’s friend. Nikon is said to be seeking 12.6 billion yen in damages – about US$ 154 million. It would be interesting to see what happens in this heated lawsuit battle – especially on the fate of Sigma, one of Nikon’s (and other camera manufacturers’) major third-party lens providers.

Sources: Nikon.com & Reuters