[edlaurpic]

I haven't read anything to suggest that the coding is not covered by a Leica patent, but that isn't the point. In the case of Sony Beta and Apple Mac, both of these systems were also covered by copyright (computer code is copyrighted rather than patented). Therefore, in each case competitors simply came up with systems that did not technically infringe the copyright but created the "look" and the funcionality of the copyrighted system. In this case Leica's coding could be a combination of patent and copyright, as the machining might be under patent and the software/firmware that reads the code would be copyrighted. The only closed systems that seem to survive aggressive competitive activity are those which are openly licensed for royalties that competitors can afford, the best example being Dolby, which made is noise reduction technology available and affordable to virtually every single audio system manufacturer. Instead of fighting Dolby almost all of them have licensed it for their own systems and Dolby has become the standard. In Leica's case, the M mount has become the RF standard, but it is no longer covered by patent, I expect, so numerous companies have now adopted the mount for their RF cameras, both because it is a proven mount and because it enables their cameras to use Leica lenses.

I am not suggesting that Leica license their coding to other lens makers, although they of course could do so if they wanted. I was simply endorsing Sean Reid's idea of making it possible for an M8 owner to dial in his or her lens in the camera's menu rather than only being able to tell the camera what lens is attached by means of the coding on the lens mount.