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Legal woes block UK online ink cartridge reseller
UK
online ink cartridge reseller Recharge has agreed to stop selling
Epson-compatible cartridges after facing legal proceedings.Epson claims
that Bolton-based Recharge Inkjet Technologies Limited, which trades
under the name CartridgeMonkey.com, will pay it a ‘substantial
settlement payment’ and promise ‘not to infringe Epson’s patents and
registered designs’. However, the full details remain
confidential.Epson has succeeded in forcing Recharge to now only sell
Epson original inks and multipacks and discontinue its Epson-compatible
lines because of ‘concerns that they may infringe Epson’s intellectual
property rights,’ according to Mr Scott, director of Recharge.Epson
claims the action is to protect the investment into its ink
technologies. Nick Butler, Managing Director, Epson UK said: ‘We
welcome CartridgeMonkey.com’s decision to remove the cartridges
complained of and its recognition of the importance of respecting
Epson’s intellectual property rights.’He added: ‘Genuine Epson ink is
the highest quality ink you can use for your Epson printer.’It may turn
out to be the only ink you can buy if third-party cartridge resellers
continue to be felled by Epson’s legal campaign.In these David and
Goliath tussles, the Epson giant has been very adept at negotiating a
victory without taking to the field of combat.In the past year or so,
the likes of Environmental Business Products Limited, UK importer and
distributor of Epson compatible printer cartridges, and other
third-party importers and resellers such as Multi Union, Armor and
CybaHouse, have been swept aside by Epson’s legal team with
out-of-court settlements.Gary Flynn, Director,
CartridgeMonkey.com andRecharge Inkjet Technologies Ltd, said:
‘CartridgeMonkey.com is a small company, like most, in comparison to
the Seiko Epson corporation. But in spite of this, we took considerable
legal opinion including that of patent attorneys at our considerable
expense. Whilst the importer of the third party manufactured cartridges
assured us they did not infringe Epson’s intellectual property rights,
our belief, based on the information we were presented by our legal
team is that Seiko Epson has an extremely strong case and that we could
possibly lose any resulting legal proceedings.’We spoke to a UK
manufacturer of Epson-compatible third-party inks which is also
embroiled in a legal tussle with Epson.A spokesperson for Medea
International said that while it will withdraw products found to
infringe patents to which it doesn’t have a licence, it will continue
to make available cartridges it doesn’t believe infringe Epson’s
IP.’Recharge (Cartridge Monkey) is one of our customers,’ we were told.
‘I think they would have had stock of the older style cartridges that
we stopped selling months ago as soon as Epson said they had a problem
with them.’Yusef Okhai, Medea’s founder and MD said: ‘Epson has not
licensed anyone anywhere to use its technology … so it is something
of a contradiction to say it is not trying to stamp out compatibles
cartridges that people can actually afford. Epson is using the media
and scare tactics to stop people selling compatible products, and it is
working.’How can a compatible cartridge be made and sold for £3, yet
the Epson version costs £22? Especially when one considers economies of
scale – it can make them cheaper in volume if they are really the same
– and if they’re not the same – then why is Epson suing people? … It
is somewhat ironic that Epson sells a product for a profit to a loyal
customer, and then uses those funds to go to court, to ensure it can
restrict the choices of that same customer for the life of the printer.’
Epson had not returned our requests for comment by the time of publishing.
Epson settles inkjet cartridge suit
Epson
has agreed a settlement with UK internet retailer Recharge Inkjet
Technologies (CartridgeMonkey.com) over the sale of ink cartridges for
Epson printers.Recharge has agreed not to infringe Epson’s patents and
registered designs in future, and to pay a substantial settlement to
Epson. The full terms of the settlement are confidential.Mr Scott,
director of Recharge said: “Following discussions with Epson, we have
discontinued our range of ink cartridges compatible with Epson branded
printers because of concerns that they may infringe Epson’s
intellectual property rights. CartridgeMonkey.com will continue to
stock the full range of Epson original inks and Epson multi-packs, so
our customers continue to benefit from the many significant long-term
benefits when using ink cartridges manufactured by Epson.”Nick Butler,
managing director, Epson UK said: “Genuine Epson ink is the highest
quality ink you can use for your Epson printer. Our investment into
research and development has ensured that we are providing premium
quality output for our customers and that both our ink and our printers
work in harmony together. We welcome CartridgeMonkey.com’s decision to
remove the cartridges complained of and its recognition of the
importance of respecting Epson’s intellectual property rights.”
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