As reported by Actionable Intelligence on February 5 (see “Here We Go Again: Canon Sues Firms for Infringing Various Gear and Drum Patents), attorneys for Canon filed complaints in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 29, accusing 18 companies of infringing patents found in certain Canon-manufactured toner cartridges.
With another year behind us, it is always interesting to think about what might lie ahead for the imaging market in 2014. There is little doubt that the printing business will remain as challenging as ever in the coming year as alternative methods for information consumption continue to restrict the need for print. Concern about
Happy New Year! To kick off the year, we are tooting our own horn a bit and wishing ourselves a happy birthday. The Actionable Intelligence website was officially launched in January 2011. It seems hard to believe Actionable Intelligence has now been providing readers with printer and supplies industry news and analysis for three years.
As those in the aftermarket supplies business know all too well, printer OEMs have been filing a growing number of patent-infringement lawsuits against compatible makers they perceive as infringing their intellectual property (IP). If OEMs are using patents as a shield to protect their IP, the OEMs’ patent-infringement lawsuits are the sword that the OEMs
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in Lexmark v. Static Control Components. The justices will be deciding how to determine whether a party has standing to bring a false-advertising claim under the Lanham Act. Currently, different courts are using different systems or test to determine whether a company has standing to file suit
On November 4, Ed Swartz, founder and longtime leader of Static Control Components, passed away after battling cancer. Born in December 1935, he was 77 years old at the time of his death and is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughter, Karen; sons, Michael and William; and nine grandchildren. In addition to his immediate family,
It is mid-October and that means earnings season is about to begin. Over the next few weeks, the OEMs will let their investors know how their businesses have done during the past quarter. Reporting on October 22, Lexmark will the first printer hardware OEM to host an earnings call for the investment community, followed by
Last week, the Business Solutions Association (BSA) announced it is looking for feedback from the remanufacturing industry and the public on a proposed draft standard that would define a remanufactured cartridge. The BSA (www.businesssolutionsassociation.com) describes itself as a trade association that represents manufacturers, wholesalers, and manufacturer representatives in the business product and related industries. The
While walking the aisles at the PRINT 13 show held recently in Chicago, a couple of key points emerged through the bustle of activity on the floor. First, there actually was a bustle of activity on the show floor. In recent years, trade shows covering the printing industry—any part of the printing industry—have been more
One of the most important lawsuits affecting the third-party supplies business today is Lexmark’s toner cartridge patent-infringement complaint currently before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. This suit has become even more significant for the remanufacturing industry now that Lexmark may once again be asserting that remanufacturing Return Program (aka Prebate)