Canon filed a complaint on 31 January alleging patent infringement by Print-Rite Imaging Technology Inc. and Union Technology International (MCO) Co. Ltd. (defendants).
Canon said in its complaint that the defendants sell and/or offer in the United States “unauthorised toner cartridges for use in HP laser beam printers, including but not limited to toner cartridges for use in place of one or more of HP cartridge models 48A (CF248A), 141A (W1410A), 134A (W1340A), 134X (W1340X), 138A (W1380A), and 138X (W1380A)”. These cartridges, Canon says, are infringing Canon’s U.S. Patent No. 11,169,483 (the “’483 patent”), which was filed in December 2018 and issued to the OEM was issued in November 2021.
In its complaint, Canon analysed the infringing products and compared it to another product that UTec introduced as an “IP-Safe” product where Canon alleges the only difference is that “it does not have a helical gear as claimed in the ’483 patent” but adds that “Defendants developed the so-called “IP Safe” version because they knew and know that the helical gear version infringes the ’483 patent.”
The company is asking for a court to rule that the defendants should pay “damages adequate to compensate Canon for their infringement of the ’483 patent, as well as enhanced damages for Defendants’ wilful, wanton, and deliberate infringement, together with interest”.
