Inkjet Wholesale News aims to provide updates on the latest significant occurrences in the field of printing. Whether it’s the launch of a new technology or volatility of market prices, we’ll be here to give you the lowdown on what happened, when it happened, and what it means!
Minnow Impression Products Landmark Patent Case against Lexmark to Be Heard In Court Soon
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are always going after aftermarket companies in one way or another. Whether it is warnings couched as whitepapers or hard-core patent infringement cases, such instances are fairly common in the world today. However, once in a while, someone small and unknown compared to these behemoths of industry decides to take them on.
Impression Products is one such minnow that has the gumption to not buckle to the kind of clout that OEMs have been known to brandish freely. Now, this on-going David vs. Goliath battle is about to come to its next phase with the case to be heard by a full panel of judges of the D. C. Appeals Court in the next month.
What’s even more interesting here is that this isn’t an open and shut case. Instead, it seems that both parties have some kind of legal precedent on their side. The most interesting part about this case, however, is that it has ended up involving multiple other players with some even operating outside the print industry because patent cases can have tremendous fallout in our technologically nuanced world.
The October 2 hearing in front of a panel of judges was itself preceded by a lawsuit in the Federal courts of US. The initial case in the Ohio Federal Court resulted in a partially adverse ruling for Impression Products.
The ruling was given by Federal Judge Michael R Barrett. Essentially, Judge Barrett disagreed with how Lexmark interpreted patent laws but at the same time saw patent laws and copyright laws as dissimilar. This wasn’t good for Impression Products because their case was based on precedents that involved copyright laws.
Despite the adverse ruling, however, Impression Products petitioned the D. C. Appeals Court and managed to get a hearing scheduled. This was significant because the mandate of the D. C. Appeals Court is to only handle patent cases.
The usual procedure followed at the D. C. Appeals Court is that a panel consisting of three judges hears the parties before ruling on it. However, the Impression Products case will be heard by a full panel of judges. External third parties got involved because along with announcing that the full panel of judges will be hearing the case, D. C. Appeals Court also announced that it will be accepting amicus briefs.
Amicus briefs are basically arguments from third parties in favour of the position of either party in the case. Amicus briefs ensure that no angle of the case is overlooked and that any and all ramifications of rulings are considered carefully. This case has drawn an influx of amicus briefs. The flood of amicus briefs isn’t even limited to just one position.
Amicus briefs have been received equally in favour of Impression Products as they have been for Lexmark. As is obvious, the amicus briefs in favour of Lexmark are mainly coming from trade groups and other holders of patents in the field of mobile technology and computers. On the other hand, amicus briefs on behalf of Impression Products have been submitted by public interest groups, retailers, and most importantly remanufacturers.
October 2nd is the date on which oral arguments regarding the case will be heard by the full panel of judges. The fact that the D. C. Appeals Court has decided on the full panel of judges for this case shows the importance of the decision. How this case is resolved will have impacts on not just the print industry but beyond as well. Even so, regardless of which way the full panel of judges rules, this can be expected to reach the Supreme Court.
The origins of this case can be traced back to 2013 when Lexmark’s lawyers accused Impression Products and a number of other toner recycling companies of patent infringement because they were selling their recycled cartridges overseas. There were more than 24 defendants on the case. While most of them folded against the might of the industry giant by either settling or being absent, Impression Products decided to fight the case.
Uninet Imaging Inc. Releases New Toner Formulations for Lexmark and Xerox Cartridge Remanufacturers
With increased demand for compatible and remanufactured printer consumables, it isn’t surprising that the aftermarket industry is becoming more open about its doings. There are increasingly more aftermarket component manufacturers releasing information about their latest range of products. In fact, the aftermarket supplies industry has also grown leaps and bounds in the last few years.
The most recent development in the aftermarket suppliers industry has come from Uninet Imaging Inc. of US. The manufacturer has released new formulations of toners that aftermarket remanufacturers of Lexmark and Xerox cartridges can use.
According to Uninet Imaging, their new formulations are capable of two things. The first is that they can maintain the high page yields of dedicated toners and the second is that they can be used in a multiple cartridge models. Along with its toner formulations, the aftermarket supplier has also released cartridge components.
The aftermarket supplier has launched Absolute Color ® toner formula that is suitable for Lexmark C/X792 series of printer models and the Xerox Phaser series. The Lexmark C/X792 series is highlighted by the C792 printer which is a high end model capable of sporting high yield toner cartridges. Within the Xerox Phaser series, the models that Uninet Imaging says its toner and components are suitable for include 6015, 6025, WorkCentre 6027, 6010, 6022, and 6020.
Furthermore, Uninet Imaging also launched a multipurpose toner formulation that can be used in more than 100 different engines. While this toner formulation is specifically suited for Lexmark T series of monochrome printers, it is multipurpose and can be used in other devices.
Uninet Imaging says that this new toner formulation has an incredibly high density which allows it to provide exceptional print quality. Moreover, the cost per page numbers of the new formulation is also on the very low side especially considering the formulation boasts of AMES certification.
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