S.C.C. AGAIN TAKES ON LEXMARK TO COMBAT FIRMWARE/SOFTWARE

[Anonymous]

S.C.C. AGAIN TAKES ON LEXMARK TO COMBAT FIRMWARE/SOFTWARE

Static Control Components Takes Action to Combat Lexmark Firmware Updates
In January, the web was abuzz with stories that a firmware update for Lexmark inkjet all-in-ones based on Lexmark’s Vizix platform resulted in these devices no longer being able to accept anything other than the OEM Lexmark 100, 100XL, and 105XL ink tanks (see News Briefing, “Rumors Circulate That Lexmark Firmware Update Locks Out Non-OEM Supplies”). Reportedly, the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading and the Trading Standards Institute were investigating consumer complaints that the update prevented them from using compatible and/or remanufactured cartridges for these printers. Various sources disagreed on whether these organizations had confirmed they were investigating the matter.

Now, we have heard that it is possible that firmware updates for Lexmark laser printers and MFPs, as well as the Dell and IBM printers and MFPs based on Lexmark engines, may also lock out remanufactured cartridges. Moreover, at least one major non-OEM supplies industry player, Static Control Components, is taking action to combat this reman-killing firmware update by warning its customers and providing them with warning labels to be placed on Lexmark printers.

In a document for its customers that remanufacture cartridges or resell non-OEM supplies, Static Control warns, “End user customers previously happy with remanufactured cartridges were duped into accepting a firmware upgrade that promised to ‘improve’ users’ printers, but has now locked them into using ONLY original Lexmark cartridges. End users have found that the firmware upgrade is irreversible and their printer will not work until all cartridges are original Lexmark cartridges. Consumers claim this is an anti–competitive and a restrictive trade practice. BEWARE. It could easily happen to YOUR ink jet and laser Lexmark (Dell and IBM equivalent) remanufactured cartridge customers.”

Static Control urges its customers to inform Lexmark and IBM- and Dell-equivalent end users immediately and to get them to agree not to install firmware upgrades for their Lexmark, Dell, or IBM printers, all-in-ones, or MFPs. Static Control even provides its customers with handy labels for placement on end users’ printing devices, a form letter to be provided to end users warning them of the risk posed by the firmware updates, and a letter to technicians or others working on printers at a business notifying them that the owner does not want firmware updates to be installed.

This is the first we have heard that Lexmark firmware updates that lock out non-OEM supplies may be applicable to Lexmark laser products and equivalents from other vendors. If true, the impact of these firmware updates would be much larger than when we first heard tales of this update, as initially it was supposedly limited to Lexmark’s latest inkjet products. While Static Control’s efforts to stop the spread of the reman-killing firmware updates will undoubtedly help some remanufacturers retain more of their business for Lexmark SKUs, thus far, multiple reports indicate that the firmware update is irreversible. That means theoretically it takes just one split-second decision to update firmware by a technician or employee in an IT department to render a printer unable to accept anything but OEM supplies.

Still, it should be noted that we have yet to hear any results of the investigations in the United Kingdom, or even definitive confirmation that the Lexmark firmware updates are being investigated. Moreover, as Lexmark supporters will be quick to point out, the source of the story that the firmware update may apply to Lexmark, Dell, and IBM laser printers and MFPs is hardly impartial. Static Control Components has been engaged in a bitter legal battle with Lexmark over compatible chips used in Lexmark Return Program cartridges since 2002, and the two companies’ litigation continues to this day (see News Briefing, “Static Control Components Asks Court to Reconsider Antitrust Claims against Lexmark”). Given that there is no love lost between Static Control Components and Lexmark, it is certainly possible that some of Static Control’s claims are exaggerated. Lexmark does not appear to have issued any official statement on the matter. But, when it comes to protecting the businesses of those remanufacturers it supplies with components, Static Control is taking a “better safe than sorry” stance when it comes to Lexmark firmware updates.

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March 2, 2011 at 8:08 AM