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Canon wins inkjet cartridge suit
KYOTO
JAPAN NOV 07 Canon Inc. prevailed Thursday in a lawsuit against a
seller of recycled versions of its inkjet printer cartridges in a
Supreme Court rejection of a lower court ruling that favored the
defendant firm.This was the top court’s first decision ever on whether
a manufacturer can have patent rights on recycled versions of its own
patented products.Canon filed the suit against Recycle Assist Co.,
which sold recycled ink cartridges imported from a Chinese contractor
that bored holes in used Canon ink cartridges and poured ink into them
made by a different company.The recycled versions sold for ¥600
to ¥700, compared with between ¥800 and ¥1,000 for genuine Canon ink
cartridges.The Tokyo District Court in December 2004 rejected Canon’s
suit on grounds that its patent rights did not cover recycled goods
that could be categorized as repaired goods.In January 2006, however,
the Intellectual Property High Court upheld the suit, ruling that
alteration or replacement of any essential component of a patented
product constituted a patent infringement. The Supreme Court sided with
this decision Thursday.
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