On 7 May 2019 Canon filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California alleging V4Ink, Inc. of patent infringement.
V4Ink, Inc. was also one of the companies accused of patent infringement when Canon filed its big onslaught of cases last year. In June 2018 V4Ink, Inc. announced its intention to default, and therefore “that it intends to raise no further defences” in the investigation.
On 7 May 2019 Canon filed a new complaint accusing V4Ink, Inc. for infringement of Canon’s U.S. Patent No. 8,588,646 (‘the ‘646 patent’); 7,869,740 (‘the ‘740 patent’); 8,165,494 (‘the ‘494 patent’); 8,971,760 (‘the ‘760 patent’); 9,494,916 (‘the ‘916 patent’); 9,857,763 (‘the ‘763 patent’); and 10,162,304 (‘the ‘304 patent’).
Canon alleged that V4Ink, Inc. “is engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing, selling, and/or offering to sell toner cartridges (hereafter, “Accused Products”) for printers, including toner cartridges for use in certain Canon and HP Colour laser beam printers…”.
In a press release at the time, Canon explained: “As set forth in the complaint, V4INK sells toner cartridges that infringe Canon’s patents for use in various models of Canon and HP laser beam printers. These include laser beam printers which accept Canon toner cartridge models 116, 131, and 131II and HP toner cartridge models 125A, 128A, 131A, and 305A. V4INK sells the infringing toner cartridges online, including through its website, v4ink.com.”
On 3 October, Canon was granted default judgement again V4Ink, Inc. The court papers seen by The Recycler state: “Plaintiff has satisfied the procedural requirements of Local Rule 55-1. The Clerk of the Court entered Default against Defendant on 9 July 2019. (Dkt. No. 31.) Defendant has not responded to the Complaint or otherwise defended the action.”
In his conclusion, the Honourable André Birotte Jr., United States District Judge writes: “For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment. The Court finds that Defendant has infringed the ’646, ’740, ’494, ’760, ’916, ’763, and ’304 Patents. The Court also GRANTS Plaintiff’s request for a permanent injunction. Plaintiff shall file a proposed final judgment within 14 days of the issuance of this Order.”
