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independent Ink Wins Anti-Trust Appeal
4/2005– Independent Ink Inc. an independent distributor and
supplier of printer ink products, won its appeal in an anti-trust lawsuit
against Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) and its wholly-owned subsidiary
Trident Inc. on Jan. 25, 2005. This decision overrides the June 18, 2002,
Central District of California court decision that disagreed with Independent
Ink, ruling that ITW and Trident were not guilty of patent tying and thereby
conferring market power,according to Section 1 of the Sherman Act and dismissed
the case.Trident is a manufacturer of patented ink containers, non-patented ink,and
piezoelectric print heads and owns U.S. Patent No. 5,343,226 describing its
inkjet print head technology.Although the ink is not patented, its standard
license agreements declare the right to “manufacture, use and sell …inkjet
printing devices” to other printer manufacturers only “when used in combination
with ink and ink supply systems supplied by Trident.”According to the judgment, ITW/Trident licenses its products to OEMs as a
package and requires them “to purchase their ink for Trident-based systems
exclusively from Trident.” In essence, ITW’s packaging of patented and
non-patented technologies locks out competition from various third-party ink
manufacturers, including Independent Ink, that also offer ink for use in ITW’s
print head systems.
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