Nikon 135mm f/1.8 lens patent

Nikon filed a patent (201048125) in Japan for a 135mm f/1.8 lens:

Update: here is the US patent 20120050872 application for the same lens.

Nikon currently has the AF DC-Nikkor 135mm f/2D lens ($1,329.00) in their catalog (lens design: 7 elements in 6 groups).

It seems that Nikon is persistently releasing a whole line of full frame f/1.8 lenses – last year there was the Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G lens, this year the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G and will probably see also a new Nikkor AF-S 28mm f/1.8G by the end of 2012.