Four online retail companies specializing in computer supplies, including ink cartridges, have agreed an out-of-court settlement with the Seiko Epson Corp. They will cease trading in compatible printer cartridges that were infringing a number of intellectual property rights belonging exclusively to Epson. Further details of the settlement remain client confidential.
The four companies are; GEPOC Gesellschaft für Polymerchemie mbH, Aachen; BWD Computer, Arnsdorf, Tintenshop Löhne, Bielefeld and Tinten-Toner Vertrieb, Bochum.
Herr Cornels, director of GEPOC says, "The compatible cartridges supplied to us were infringing on the intellectual properties of Epson. We are grateful to Epson for its fair and co-operative actions to inform us about these products. To ensure that we are not providing patent-infringing ink cartridges to our customers in the future we have decided to stop dealing in all compatible ink cartridges."
Toru Oguchi chief executive of the Imaging Products Operations Division, Seiko Epson Corporation, said, "As one of the world's leading imaging companies, Epson devotes considerable resources and time into research and development of innovative technologies for the benefit of its customers. While we welcome fair competition, we will continue to vigorously pursue our intellectual property rights to protect our innovative products and our customers against non-genuine products that infringe our intellectual property rights."
