Hp Loses Ink Cartridge Patent Dispute To Nerderlands 123inkt.nl

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Hp Loses Ink Cartridge Patent Dispute To Nerderlands 123inkt.nl

HP patent declared invalid by District Court at The Hague
In a judgment of 25 November 2015 the District Court of The Hague ruled in favor of 123inkt.nl in proceedings brought by HP.

HP claimed that a chip on certain 123inkt-cartridges infringed a patent of HP and demanded a ban on sales of these 123inkt-cartridges.

123inkt took the position that the patent on the chip should not have been granted by the European Patent Office and that the patent was abused to maintain a monopoly on 123inkt cartridges that are compatible with certain HP inkjet printers.

The court agreed with 123inkt and ruled that the relevant claim of HP’s European patent was invalid because it is not novel. A patent must provide a new solution to a problem. Consequently, 123inkt can continue to sell these cartridges.

Along with the case now won by 123inkt, HP also filed a second patent infringement lawsuit against 123inkt in December of 2014. At the time HP asked for for worldwide attention to these cases in a press release. Earlier this year that second has already been settled. The 123inkt cartridges do not infringe the HP patent concerned and 123inkt can continue to sell these cartridges as well.

This year also Samsung failed in an attempt to get a court order to ban sales of various 123inkt-cartiridges. In April of 2015 the Court of Appeals in The Hague ruled in favor of 123inkt in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Samsung.

“For all printers we offer the original brand and in most cases also our own brand as an alternative. HP has pulled out all the stops with an army of lawyers to limit the choice for consumers to only the expensive HP-branded products. This feels like a double win, because I also see the settlement as a victory for us”, says managing director Gerben Kreuning of 123inkt. “I am happy on behalf of Dutch printer users and I am also proud of our determination. As far as I can determine, HP has not lost many cases. Already several webshops have succumbed to the show of power by the large printer manufacturers. Most do not dare to take on these costly patent cases. It is now 2-0 for the consumer because in the end the consumer is the one that benefits. The consumer does not accept that he is forced to pay more for a few cartridges than for a brand new printer. That our customers appreciate our efforts is shown by the thousands of support messages that we received after the Samsung case, and by the fact that the consumer has chosen us as ‘Best Webshop 2015-2016’ out of all webshops in The Netherlands”.

About 123inkt.nl
With more than 1,6 million customers, 123inkt.nl is market leader in online sales of ink cartridges, toners, printers, paper and office supplies. For eight years in a row its webshop has been chosen by consumers as best Dutch webshop in the category 'Computer Hard- and Software'. In October 2015 123inkt.nl was awarded the overall price for Best Webshop in The Netherland 2015 -2016.

This last year 123inkt.nl launched a number of new, specialized webshops: 123accu.nl, 123led.nl and 123-3D.nl.

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December 3, 2015 at 12:20 PM