Update: Nikon’s lens patent 20110170195 seems to have the correct lens diagram for the recently announced AF-S DX Micro 40mm f/2.8G lens. The patent got published online just two days after the lens got announced! (thanks Astrophotographer)
A reader asked me if Nikon has previously filed any patents for the recently announced AF-S DX Micro 40mm f/2.8G lens. I searched older patents posts and came across two different entries for a 40mm f/2.8 lens:
Nikon was granted a patent 7656591 for a 40mm f/2.8 lens in 2010, the patent was filed in 2007:
The second patent 2010-204621 (filed in Japan on 02/03/2009) was for a 40mm f/2.8 and 60mm f/3.8 macro lenses but the initial guess was that those designs are for a mirrorless camera because of the 17mm image circle:
The patented lens diagram are slightly different than the final version:
