M9 patented?

[myM8yogi]

What a strange question Roger. I think this thread has shown that most people here think the benefit is not worth the necessary financial outlay and risk, so no, I personally will not be going down that road.
And do I trust any government to fight for a small independent industry? No. Leica will have to fight for themselves in the marketplace.

Remember that patents only last for 20yrs after their filing date, and are of little value if there is no will or resources to enforce them. Sure Leica could spend a fortune on expensive innovation and then file blocking patents in order to force a cross-licencing agreement with the big Japanese corporations, but that is agressive and will awaken the sleeping giants, and both parties to the agreement would then be able to compete with each other on purely economic terms - not a fight Leica could ever win. Trade secrets and human craftmanship on the other hand offer an alternative business model for smaller operators with long term vision offering a premium product.

Incidently, for me, the logical conclusion of all of this is for Leica to make a loud and firm commitment to ensure long term customer support; specifically in repairs and upgrades. A hardware-upgradable digital camera would be a unique selling point, and would give customers hue confidence in Leica's long term planning - it would also leverage Leica's almost exclusive current expertise in repairs and craftmanship. But we've all discussed that topic before to exhaustion.

 

[jsrockit]

You've got to have a cult camera, so enough folks will buy them to wear as jewelry to subsidize those few who actually buy them to use.

You know what, I've never ever met anyone like this (who buys a camera just to look cool, and never ever takes a photo). Most people who are not into photography don't give a crap about cameras. Sure, someone may buy expensive cameras to take bad photos of their friends and family, but there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Japan---Exposures]

Well, I've heard high-up Leica staff complaining that they were severely hampered by the system and the Japanese closed-shop mentality.Fwiiw. Otoh Dr. Kaufmann seems to have gotten Fujitsu on board.

All non-Japanese companies face the same problem. It's easy to complain about "the Japanese closed shop mentality" when you cannot adjust to new markets/competitors etc. How dare they not help us sell our superior product!

Of course the same happens in reverse, but I suppose nobody would complain of US/Euro trying to "hamper" any Chinese or Japanese market entry attempts so you don't read about it so much in your objective newspaper.