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Epson Takes Action Against Two
Off-Brand Ink Cartridge Manufacturers to Protect Intellectual
Property
LONG
BEACH, Calif.-April, 2005–
Company Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Against Armor Group and Expands Scope of Existing Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Against Multi-Union Trading Co. Ltd.
Epson has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in
Portland, Ore., against the Armor Group, manufacturers and distributors of
aftermarket ink cartridges, including its French-based head office Armor S.A,
German manufacturing subsidiary Artech GmbH, and its U.S. sales subsidiary Armor
USA Inc. The lawsuit by Epson Portland Inc., Epson America Inc. and Seiko Epson
Corp. alleges that at least 30 models of replacement ink jet cartridges for
Epson Stylus printers manufactured by Artech GmbH infringe Epson’s patents. A
total of 12 patents are asserted, with each cartridge alleged to infringe
several of these patents. The Armor cartridges are widely distributed at retail
locations throughout the United States.In a separate development, Epson filed a second patent infringement lawsuit
to add at least 49 more cartridge models to its patent infringement lawsuit
brought in April 2001 against Multi-Union Trading Company Ltd., a
Hong-Kong-based company that is one of the world’s largest suppliers of
aftermarket ink cartridges. The Multi-Union cartridges are often sold in the
United States under the PrintRite brand and in generic packaging. In March 2005,
a federal judge issued a summary judgment ruling that decisively holds that the
defendant’s 23 cartridges referenced in the initial lawsuit infringe Epson’s
patents. The second complaint alleges the same or substantially similar
infringements by the additional 49 cartridge models.Epson has made huge investments in R&D and manufacturing in the United
States and elsewhere to produce high quality, innovative cartridges. Both
lawsuits are part of Epson’s worldwide efforts to protect the company and its
customers from unfair competition of all types, including the sale of
patent-infringing ink cartridges.“Epson recognizes and respects competitors’ rights to sell aftermarket ink
cartridges as long as they compete fairly,” said Elizabeth Leung, director,
Consumer Supplies and Strategy, Epson. “In these cases, however, we had to take
these actions to enforce the company’s intellectual property rights and protect
our innovative products from unfair competition through the continued sales of
cartridges that are infringing copies of Epson’s patented ink cartridges.”
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