11 Years Later: Romania’s Supreme Court Finally Upholds HP Antitrust Fine Over Inkjet Printer Market Abuse.

More than 11 years after the case began in 2015, Romania’s Supreme Court has finally upheld a 2.97 million lei (about US$645,000) antitrust fine against Hewlett-Packard Romania for abusing its dominant position in the country’s business inkjet printer and ink consumables market. The ruling confirms the Romanian Competition Council’s original findings that HP unfairly terminated agreements with local reseller partners before their contracts expired and redirected the business to a preferred international distributor without an objective justification. The decision brings one of the printer industry’s longest-running competition cases to a close and highlights how antitrust investigations involving major OEMs can take more than a decade to reach a final judgment. The case also underscores the growing willingness of regulators to closely examine how dominant printer manufacturers manage reseller networks, ink and toner cartridge distribution, and competition in the global imaging industry.