A lawsuit filed in southern California federal court on Wednesday asserts that Japanese camera maker Nikon Corporation and its domestic subsidiary have illegally copied Red.com LLC’s cutting edge camera technology. The complaint asserts seven counts of infringement for a corresponding number of patents that purportedly disclose “a video camera that can be configured to highly compress video data in a visually lossless manner.”
The lawsuit explains that Red.com is a Nevada corporation headquartered in California. Since 2006, the company claims it has designed and made “high performance digital still and motion cinematography cameras, video equipment and accessories, digital editing software, video players as well as generally in imaging format technology used in the dissemination, broadcast, or transmission of video.”
According to the complaint, Red.com’s “RED ONE” camera has been used to produce blockbuster films and has “revamped the movie making process and industry.” The complaint describes seven patents that underlie its ground-breaking technology and asserts that Nikon sells infringing products including its Z Series Mirrorless Cameras and Nikon Z 9 with Firmware 2.0.
Nikon’s infringement is willful, the lawsuits says, pointing to the purported fact that Nikon knew about Red.com’s inventions, in part because they are direct competitors who sell products in the same markets and channels. “[G]iven the foregoing and Nikon’s significance and history in the camera industry, RED is informed and believed and thereupon alleges that Nikon also knew about RED’s prior lawsuits involving one or more of the asserted patents,” the complaint adds.
The filing seeks damages or royalties for the alleged infringement and an injunction barring Nikon from further infringement. The plaintiff also seeks an award of attorneys’ fees on behalf of his counsel Weeks Nelson.
