Canon Names GCC Group and TallyGenicom in IP Suit
May
06, Canon filed suit against various units of the GCC Group and
TallyGenicom, one of the Hong Kong-based cartridge maker’s North
American distributors. Canon alleges that the defendants market
products that use infringing technology to rotate OPC drums in toner
cartridges to ensure that the drum is synchronized with a printer or
fax machine. GCC
Group manufactures and markets 100 percent new toner cartridges for
print engines from Canon and other printer OEMs, and it is widely
believed that the firm is a major supplier of Staples-branded toner
cartridges.Canon has been relatively quiet about the lawsuit,
which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
New York. The firm did not issue a press release on the matter, and
there is no mention of the lawsuit on either Canon’s corporate Web site
or its Canon U.S.A. site. According to court records, it appears the
complaints were filed and served to the defendants without a
cease-and-desist notice. Richard Butler, a Canon spokesperson,
confirmed that his company is seeking relief from the U.S. courts to
resolve its complaint against the GCC Group and TallyGenicom. “Canon
Inc. filed this patent-infringement lawsuit in the United States on May
1, seeking an injunction against the manufacture and sale of the
infringing cartridges and unspecified damages,” he said.Chris Mercer,
CEO of Green Cartridge Company Limited, the parent company of the GCC
Group, expressed confidence that his firm has not infringed Canon’s
patent. In a prepared statement, he claimed, “We have utmost respect
for other parties’ intellectual property, and we go to great lengths
and great expense to ensure that we do not infringe any valid
intellectual property unless we are properly licensed.