Canon Inc carried out large-scale purchases of its own shares twice in February and March. The combined number of the purchased shares reached approximately 30 million, and their total amount, 200 billion yen.

A patent dispute involving surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) panels is being waged between Canon and Nano-Proprietary Inc., a U.S.-based high-tech venture business. A U.S. district court handed down a summary judgment in February 2007, in which the court said that Canon had violated the technical license agreement it had concluded with Nano-Proprietary.

Prior to this final verdict, the court has started calculation of the amount of compensation it will order Canon to pay to Nano-Proprietary.

Will Canon make a do-or-die resistance to the court’s decision or seek an out-of-court settlement? There is, of course, the third option of withdrawing from the business. Canon plans to release new TV sets equipped with SED panels in the October-December period. With the deadline drawing near, Canon is now being forced to make a difficult decision.
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