Originally posted by yakiniku But patents can be sold right? So is it possible Hoya can change ownership of the patents to their own?
I'm sure Pentax under Ricoh can keep using SMC, but just it would be ironic if Pentax has to get licensed from Hoya to use their own proud SMC.
if that were the case, for which I am unsure of, it wouldn’t be Pentax that is building the lenses using the SMC coating, it would be Ricoh. Pentax essentially stopped making anything as itself the day it was bought by Hoya, if I understand it all. Pentax owned itself, now it doesn't. so the owner is the one using the technology, not ‘Pentax’. some people here disagree, but the way I understand it, Pentax is just a brand now, not an actual company. so the saying would be “Ricoh using Pentax invented, Hoya owned SMC technology on Pentax branded lenses.’ not ‘Pentax using Hoya owned, Pentax invented SMC technology on Pentax branded lenses.’
but then I don’t know much about all this and I don’t know enough about what ‘Pentax’ actually is anymore to say. its all frightfully confusing really.