FLIR's MSX patent - How old is it? Is it a worldwide one? When does it expire? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Liam G
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2022, 11:20:05 pm
content: All in the title . . .But I suppose we could also discuss how FLIR can patent what is really just a basic edge-finding photo filter, which has been available in any photo editing software for decades now.

author: Liam G
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2022, 03:49:33 pm
content: Think I've managed to finally track it down>>https://patents.google.com/patent/US9684963B2. . . from 2014 only, I thought for sure it was older than that.And, if I'm reading it correctly, it's aUS patent onlyand not worldwide? Meaning the rest of the world are free to purchase this feature on a non-FLIR device?

author: Liam G
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2022, 04:23:32 pm
content: Actually, no . . . It's much more complicated than that.

author: Minok
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 12:15:16 am
content: Based onUS Patent 9,171,361, which is FLIRS US patent that describes correlating the edge enhanced visual camera data with the IR camera data...that patent was applied for April 2, 2012.As US patents are good for 20 years....The US FLIR patent on that basic process will expire on April 3, 2032. :'(So we have to wait about 7 more years until other thermal camera manufacturers can turn on the ability to actually visually combine the edge enhancements with the IR image, and not just picture-in-picture overlay them (ala Bosch's solution).My assumption is that once the root patent expires in a major market country, then any subsidiary of an electronics tool company there can begin using it in technology sold their, and from there it will be available world wide via gray market at the least. So if the patent holds longer in, say the EU, then you can sneak in US market products, and vice versa.

author: Geoff-AU
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 03:38:19 am
content: Quote from: Minok on August 08, 2025, 12:15:16 amThey're not correlating, that would be too smart. It's just a simple fixed (but adjustable) parallax correction.

author: Sorama
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 06:26:29 am
content: Who cares about msx?A real Thermographer never uses that.

author: Pinkus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 11:31:51 am
content: Basically MSX is nice for low resolution cameras or a camera with a small (cheap) lens.I once had a Flir E4 which I liberated to 320x240 dots (E8). Here MSX was really helpful because many details were missing.Eventually I sold it and purchased a used E40 which I convinced to become an E60. Even it just has the same resolution as my former E4/E8, the E60 (V1) showed so much details that MSX would not be needed anymore (although I admit that in rare cases it can sometimes be helpful).

author: OhmBob
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 01:30:04 am
content: That's an excellent question that gets to the heart of how large companies protect their technology. Here’s a breakdown of the situation with FLIR's MSX patent.The core MSX patent is not for a simple edge detection filter. While the *effect* may look similar to something you can achieve in Photoshop, the patent covers the specific, real-time method of overlaying that edge data onto a thermal image using the hardware of a thermal camera.Given that US utility patents have a term of **20 years from the filing date**, the core MSX patent is expected to expire around **March 2030**.Regarding your question about it being worldwide: There is no single "worldwide patent." FLIR would have filed for protection in individual countries or regions (like Europe via the EPO, China, Japan, etc.) using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which streamlines the international filing process. Each of these regional patents would have a similar expiration date, based on its local filing date.So, while the basic concept of an edge filter is old, FLIR's specific implementation for real-time thermal image enhancement was novel and patentable at the time. The patent protection is already quite old and is likely to expire in most jurisdictions around 2030