PIs recruited to authenticate Epson cartridges
December
2006 Epson Australia is following through on a global push to deter
counterfeit copies and patent infringements of the ink and cartridge
technology used in Epson inkjet printers with the help of private
investigators.In the A/NZ region, Epson will be going as far as
employing private investigators to trace sales of possible counterfeit
cartridges and help prosecute offenders. It will also look at imported
non-genuine cartridges being sold as compatible with Epson printers to
see if they violate any patents.This follows Epson’s successful
international actions on patent infringements with five suppliers of
aftermarket printer supplies and their related companies.Among the
settling defendants are three major manufacturers of aftermarket
printer supplies, Artech GMBH of Germany, Ink Lab of Hong Kong, and
InkTec of Korea. The list of offenders includes two US distributors of
aftermarket printer supplies, Inkjetwarehouse.com Inc. of Connecticut
and Rhinotek Computer Products of California.As part of the US District
Court settlements and proposed ITC consent orders, each of the
defendants has acknowledged the validity and infringement of at least
10 Epson patents and agreed to cease importing a wide range of
infringing cartridges for Epson desktop inkjet printers.While no
Australian supplier has been listed, Mike Pleasants, director of
marketing Communications for Epson Australia, said it does not and
never has licensed third party companies to make and sell ink or
cartridges for Epson printers.Epson will not hesitate to take legal
action against any reseller if they are found to have sold counterfeit
Epson inkjet cartridges to customers he said.