The company announcement was for patent-compliant replacement cartridges for some HP ColourLaserJet models.
Aster explains, in December 2018, Canon Inc. began a campaign aiming at the sale of infringing HP CC530 & CB540 replacement toner cartridges.
They describe the case as follows: “Through both legal means and Amazon infringement reports, Canon has targeted resellers of non-OEM cartridges. On December 10, Canon announced that it reached a settlement with J&H Greentech and Trading Ltd. in a patent-infringement lawsuit which was based on European Patent EP 1977289 and filed in Germany. From February 7 through March 4, Canon announced six Amazon takedowns, all of which are based on EP 1977289.
“The asserted European Patent EP 1977289 was issued on September 7, 2016 and it has a USA counterpart patent US 10162304 which was issued on December 25, 2018. As predicted by Action-Intell.com, “Anytime Canon pulls out a patent from among the many it holds and begins to assert it”, it’s not difficult to expect Canon will go on asserting these powerful and newly issued patents against compatible products in both Europe and US.
“According to analysis conducted by a patent attorney, the protected structure is a pair of protrusions, the status of which is controlled by the printer when the cartridge is engaged. This pair of protrusions control the developing roller to contact with and separate from the photosensitive drum. When monochrome documents are being printed, this pair of protrusions separate the developing roller from the photosensitive drum in the other three colour cartridges (magenta, cyan and yellow), which can extend the life cycle of the other three colour cartridges.”
In conclusion Aster Graphics says: “Since 2011, Aster Graphics has ascended to a leadership position in the imaging supply industry by producing products that are embedded with our own design innovations, many of which are protected by Aster’s valid and enforceable U.S Patent and Trademark Office registered patents. Aster Graphics respects the intellectual property rights of all third parties, whether OEM or aftermarket manufacturers. Aster products have never been subject to a seizure order and its product supply has never been interrupted.”
In its most recent announcement, Aster Graphics offers that it sells IP Compliant remanufactured cartridges as affirmed by the Patent Exhaustion Doctrine. Aster Graphics does not believe that there is an available non-OEM aftermarket design around solution up to date for either the CC530 and CB540 series cartridges.
The cartridges are for use in ColourLaserJet CP2025, ColourLaserJet CM2320, Colour LaserJet Enterprise M552dn, Colour LaserJet Enterprise M553n, Colour LaserJet Enterprise M553dn, Colour LaserJet Enterprise M553x, LaserJet Enterprise Flow M577c, LaserJet Enterprise M577f and LaserJet Enterprise M577dn machines.
For further information, please visit www.goaster.com.
