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The Inquirer: Having won a critical patent appeal in its native Japan, Canon is well on the way to being the first electronics manufacturer to make displays based on surface-conduction electron emitters.

Canon had previously sub-licensed the patent technology to make SEDs and had started designing TVs using the technology, displaying prototypes as long ago as 2006. But patent-holder Applied Nanotech took Canon to court, claiming that this sub-licensing was illegal.

The US circuit court ruled in July that it was wrong, and Applied has today announced that it won’t be pursuing the matter further. Canon now plans to start working SEDs into a line of TVs to complete with rival OLED technology, pushed hard by Samsung and Sony. But the technology may be put on the back burner for now due to the current economic climate.

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Trusted Reviews: After losing long time partner Toshiba, Canon looks set to try and push out the tech by making a some manufacturing compromises. According to news giant Bloomberg, Canon “has started the development of a new electron-emitting technology that should be more stable than Nano-Proprietary’s”, a move claim to ease mass production problems and, potentially, reduce the cost.

Against this case for the defence however Canon still gave no indication about when the fabled technology will be commercially available and having heard first hand reports over the years of Q4 2006, Q2 2007 and Q4 2007, the probable whispers of Q2/Q4 2008 don’t fill me with a great deal of confidence.

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Smarthouse News: Canon has said that it will not rule out a big aquisition in an effort to grow. It has also confirmed that it will launch SED TV technology this year.

Canon has served notice that it will not give up its No. 1 global position in digital cameras and multifunction printers (MFPs) without a fight. It has also said it has not ruled out a large merger or acquisition for the right company with technology that will help Canon to succeed.

That was one of the messages chairman/CEO Fujio Mitarai gave last week as he tried to pump up the company’s image during an official media tour to the Japanese HQ of Canon.

Mitarai said Canon’s goals include of reaching No. 1 standing in all of it market segments over the next few years, including office imaging products, computer peripherals, business information products, optical products as well as cameras.

He noted Canon reached $35 billion in worldwide sales in 2006 and sports a strong balance sheet.

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Engadget HDTV: Nano-Proprietary’s fraud lawsuit against Canon in a Texas court has been dismissed, with a jury saying no damages had been sustained, since no products have actually shipped. Nano-Proprietary holds patents to some of the technology behind SED, and licensed it to Canon in 1999. Canon then brought Toshiba in as a manufacturing partner, and Nano filed suit.

Now that all claims against Canon USA have been dropped, Canon doesn’t have to pay any additional damages to Nano beyond the price of the original license — but because the original SED patent licensing agreements with Canon have also been scrapped, rights to build the next-generation television have to be negotiated all over again.

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DigiTimes: Canon’s trial of the case brought against it by Nano-Proprietary relating to flat-panel SED TVs concluded on last week in Austin, Texas.

Nano-Proprietary’s fraud claims against Canon were dismissed and the jury returned a verdict that Nano-Proprietary had sustained no damages. All claims against Canon US were also dismissed.

Canon intends to appeal the court’s previous determination that Canon had breached the patent license agreement between the companies, terminating that agreement and allowing Nano-Proprietary to retain the original US$5.5 million purchase price for that license.

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AV Zombie: Created with an eye on SED, Sony affiliate Field Emission Technologies Inc, which opened its doors last December, says that it is looking at professional applications for its upcoming advanced screen tech, and will not be pitching FED as a rival to established plasma and LCD TV products.

The news will dissapoint those early adopters hoping for a relacement to current flatscreen products. (…) The company’s first FED screens are expected in 2009.

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Newlaunches: CRT, LCD, PDP, DLP, LCoS, OLED, SED these are technologies available on the buffet menu today. But if Sony has its way the new curry to delight all will be the FED technology. (…)

To show off their point, Sony recently displayed a new 19.2-inch 1280 × 960 pixel, 400cd/m2 panel demonstrating the technology, with an impressive 20,000:1 contrast. With lesser power consumption and a super-thin frame, the new TV will have all that it takes to woo the customer. (…)

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Reuters: Canon said on Thursday it plans to appeal an expected court decision in the United States regarding the SED TV patent dispute against Nano-Proprietary Inc.

Canon expects the ruling in the first trial to go against it after the court judged earlier this year that a license agreement Canon had with Texas-based Nano-Proprietary didn’t extend to the use of the technology by Canon’s partner Toshiba.

Tokyo-based Canon expects that ruling to come in late April, President Tsuneji Uchida said at a general shareholders meeting.

The dispute involves Nano-Proprietary’s technology used in surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SED), which are said to generate brighter images and consume less energy than existing LCDs and plasma panels.

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AV Zombie: Canon chairman Fujio Mitarai says that his company still expects to launch SED TV products in Japan this autumn, hinting that an accommodation with US firm Nano-Proprietary is possible and that ongoing patent litigation can be avoided.
However, he has issued a caveat that the manufacturing costs associated with the advanced display technology have to be improved. Mitarai says that SED production will not go ahead if the business can not be made profitable in three years. (…)

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AV Zombie: Samsung has not ruled out getting involved in the SED TV market. With Canon having lost the right to use key SED technology developed by US company Nano-Proprietary, sources indicate that Samsung has approached Nano-Proprietary to sound out potential opportunities.

Canon is currently waiting to see what damages will be awarded to Nano-Proprietary, following the loss of its long-running patent case. If the company fails to reach any settlement before damages are decided on April 2, it will be faced with having to negotiate a new, more costly, deal, perhaps on a non-exclusive basis.

Nano-Proprietary’s William Spina says that the company is prepared to talk to any major vendor about licensing SED-related technologies.

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Smarthouse:Canon Chairman Fujio Mitarai has claimed that he expects his company to win a patent-related dispute in the United States and pursue its plan to enter the flat-panel television market.

“I don’t think we will lose” in the continuing litigation brought by Nano-Proprietary.  This is despite the fact that a US recently slammed the Company in a US court hearing.

Many analysts tip that Canon will not win the case against Nano-Propietary however there is a chance that Canon may be able to buy their way out of an embarrasing situation which has been caused more by Canon arrogance than good business sense say people close to the case.

According a Canon company spokesman. Texas-based Nano-Proprietary in December cut off its licence agreement with the Japanese electronics giant for trying to share the patents with Toshiba and other firms. Currently Canon and Nano-Proprietary are trying to work out a settlement before the U.S. court rules on damages due to the U.S. firm, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Canon is set to face massive damages payouts over it’s plans to enter the SED TV market. It is also tipped that Canon in Japanese style will find an excuse to suddely say that SED TV is no longer viable a situation that Toshiba welcomes as they plan to continue with SED TV technology, possible with another production partner.

Mitarai said manufacturing cost is another issue for SEDs. “We wouldn’t go ahead with SEDs until we are sure we can make the business profitable in three years,” he said.

When Canon was sued by Nano-Proprietary two years ago, the dispute was over a patent license that had cost the Japanese electronics giant a one-time payment of $5.6 million.

But now that the lawsuit has caused Canon to lose the license, a fresh agreement with Texas-based Nano-Proprietary Inc. could be worth millions of dollars more, lawyers said.

“It seems strange Canon managed to go all the way to trial and lose,” said Peter Godwin, a Tokyo-based partner at law firm Herbert Smith. “Assuming they were advised they were at risk, you’d expect a company of the size of Canon to have reached a settlement before that.”

Now, Canon is left with no plans for mass production of the displays. The sale of the new TVs, scheduled for the fourth quarter, will be limited to Japan and on a small scale.

Mitarai also said Canon will focus on developing future technologies in medical, intellectual robots and security, and aim to launch new businesses in those areas after 2010, the spokesman said. Canon reiterated its mid-term earnings targets of 5.5 trillion yen ($46.53 billion) in annual sales on net income of 550 billion yen in 2010.

This year, Canon is aiming for an eighth year of earnings growth, with group sales of 4.45 trillion yen and an operating profit of 765 billion yen.