HP Lawsuits Target Industry Companies
April 1, 2005
Hewlett-Packard has filed two separate lawsuits against companies in the remanufacturing industry.
On March 25, HP filed suit against LaserCycle Inc. in U.S. District Court for the Western district of Wisconsin, alleging patent violations specific to the ink chemistry found in three of LaserCycle's remanufactured inkjet cartridges. On March 28, HP filed suit against Rhinotek in U.S. District Court for the Northern district of California, accusing the company of false advertising in regards to Rhinotek's packaging.
"Once we learned of their concern, we immediately reached out to HP to gain a clear and full understanding of the issues," said LaserCycle VP of Marketing Brad Roderick. "Our initial conversations with HP have been quite positive, with discussions centering on inks supplied to us by aftermarket ink manufacturers. Over the last several years, LaserCycle has become North America's largest producer of remanufactured inkjet cartridges, a success that could not have been achieved without being ethically beyond reproach."
Roderick said his company was working to determine if there is any violation of HP's patents specific to ink formulation.
"As a principled company, paying full respect to intellectual property rights, we were surprised and disappointed to learn of HP's concern with the ink formulations in our supply chain. LaserCycle has never, and would never, knowingly violate patents or any other intellectual property rights. In direct collaboration with Hewlett-Packard, we are working to quickly resolve this matter satisfactorily to both parties," he said.
larger view of Rhinotek's packaging
HP's suit against Rhinotek accuses the company of false advertising, stating that the "packaging and promotional materials are calculated to give consumers the impression that defendants' cartridges are new." HP wants a requirement that Rhinotek use the words "used" and "refilled" prominently on its packaging of refilled HP ink cartridges. HP also wants all Rhinotek profits from the time of the alleged deceptive advertisements.
According to Rhinotek Chairman Gerald Chamales, his company's packaging is not deceptive, does not state that the HP cartridges are new, and clearly states they are manufactured with recycled parts. The company had not yet responded to the lawsuit.
For more information contact LaserCycle at (913) 894-8387 or visit www.lasercycle.com. Contact Rhinotek at (800) 695-7446 or visit www.rhinotek.com.
