Lexmark Wins Court Battle Over Ink

Date: February 18, 2010

New York, NY -- After seven years, a final decision has been made in a case that pitted Lexmark, Inc. against a North Carolina-based company that produces supplies for other companies that in turn remanufacture ink cartridges.

The judge in the case, Hon. Gregory van Tatenhove dismissed several claims by both Lexmark and Static Control Components saying “they shall recover nothing”. He stated further in his ruling that each company could “present arguments that the other should pay for costs and attorneys' fees but cautioned that in ‘close and difficult’ cases, costs are sometimes denied as ‘a proper exercise of discretion.’”

That seemingly final verdict was not enough for Lexmark though. In a motion dated October 26, Lexmark petitioned for a new trial, citing the jury’s verdict in the case “was against the weight of the evidence at trial.” Lexmark also felt that pre-trial evidence presented may have colored the jury’s view of the matter.

Static Control Components has already filed an appeal with the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnatti.

This battle originally began in 2002 when Lexmark introduced its cartridge return program. Basically, the program offers discounts to customers on the front-end who buy Lexmark toner and in exchange, they agree to use the cartridge and then return it to Lexmark who then remanufactures the cartridge and resells it to another customer.

The matter was further complicated when Lexmark introduced a chip on its return cartridges that would detect if it had been remanufactured. If it was, the cartridge turned off and wouldn’t print. Static Controls fired back by designing a chip that turned off Lexmark’s, which allowed customers to remanufacture Lexmark’s cartridges, install the Static Controls chip, refill them, and resell them.

Both sides have won small victories in this war, but neither has won a total victory as of yet.

BY ADAM HAIGH, Editor