Digimedia Tech is suing Nikon for patent infringement. The involved patents are:
- 6,914,635 for “Microminiature Zoom System for Digital Camera”
- 6,545,706 and 7,715,476 for “System, Method and Article of Manufacture for Tracking a Head of a Camera-Generated Image of a Person.”
The impacted cameras are the Nikon Coolpix A1000 and Nikon Coolpix P900:
According to the complaint, “The claims of the ’635 patent are directed to technical solutions to the technical problem of providing zoom, autofocus, and other features to increasingly compact digital cameras.” Image stabilization is another feature claimed by the patent. The claims of the ‘706 and ‘476 patents “are directed to technical solutions to the technical problem of how to identify a head in an image.”
According to the complaint, Nikon’s CoolPix A1000 and P900RM digital cameras infringed upon the patents-in-suit. Among other things, the A1000 camera allegedly appropriates the ‘635 patent by using a similar “micro-electromechanical (MEMS) system support mechanism for providing at least two positions of movement to a supported element.” The ‘706 and ‘476 patents are allegedly infringed by Nikon’s CoolPix P900RM because it features “A computer program embodied on a [computer-readable] medium for tracking a head portion of a person image in video images,” and a “system for processing images to identify a head portion of a subject in the images.” (via Lawstreetmedia)
