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Epson Settles With Internet Retailer
October 2007 Epson has entered a settlement agreement in its patent infringement lawsuit with one of the largest Internet retailers of aftermarket cartridges for Epson inkjet printers.
The settlement with E-Babylon Corp. dba 123inkjets.com and 411inkjets.com, a subsidiary of Valueclick Inc., resulted from a patent infringement lawsuit filed in June 2007 by Epson Portland Inc., Epson America Inc., and Seiko Epson Corp. in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., against four resellers alleging infringement of a total of 18 patents that cover innovations in on-carriage cartridges for Epson desktop inkjet printers and off-carriage cartridges used in certain large format inkjet printers for graphic arts printing. E-Babylon admitted infringement and enforceability of the patents and agreed to a permanent injunction that prohibits further infringements. Financial terms of the settlement are confidential.“We commend E-Babylon for deciding to respect Epson’s patents and compete fairly,” said Elizabeth Leung, director, Consumer Supplies, Epson America Inc. “We will continue taking all necessary steps to vigorously defend our intellectual property rights and our investments in R&D against infringement and other unfair competition at every stage of the supply chain from manufacturing to distribution.”Epson has taken aggressive measures worldwide to protect the company from unfair competition of all types, including a 10-year history of successful patent and trademark enforcement in the United States to protect its intellectual property rights relating to ink cartridges. Most recently, Epson prevailed in a trial against 24 respondents accused of infringement in an ITC action. The judge made an Initial Determination that all cartridges accused in the case infringe Epson’s patents and recommended a General Exclusion Order that would bar all imports of such infringing cartridges. The ITC is scheduled to issue a Final Determination on Oct. 19 regarding the judge’s recommendations.Epson has set up a web site at http://itc.epson.com to provide importers and resellers with timely information about the ITC action and orders. The respondents in the ITC case are believed to supply most of the cartridges sold by the defendants in Epson’s latest lawsuit. Epson anticipates that it may have to file additional lawsuits against retailers to limit unfair competition and assure the payment of any damages because some ITC respondents are continuing sales to U.S. retailers while limiting their direct presence in the U.S. and not actively defending the ITC action.
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