 The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered Canon Inc to pay 2.28 million yen to a former Canon researcher for inventing patent technology to improve images produced by laser printers. The former employee has sought to have Canon pay 100 million yen for the invention.
Of the total profits the printer maker earned with the patented technology in the 1980s and 1990s, the researcher contributed only 1% worth, according to the ruling handed down by Presiding Judge Ichiro Otaka. The former Canon employee has also been seeking patent compensation for another invention for laser printers in a separate case.
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