Making a Federal Case Out of Toner Cartridge Refills

[prwhite]

They’re just toner cartridges, what's the big deal? Are you going to make a Federal case out of it? Well, the Supreme Court will let us know.

According to Fortune Magazine, the Court is about to hear an interesting case: Can a printer company forbid others from refilling its toner cartridges? The case, “Impression Products v. Lexmark International”, will soon be argued before the Supreme Court. This mundane-sounding patent case carries profound implications for retailers & resellers in all industries.

Lexmark gets considerable revenue from its cartridge sales and has sued Impression Products for selling refilled cartridges without their permission & disabling a chip in the cartridges so the printing device doesn’t detect unauthorized refills. Posing a threat to Lexmark's business, the appeals court took Lexmark's side, concluding this amounted to unauthorized use of Lexmark’s patented technology.

A Supreme Court ruling for Lexmark would give patent holders new powers to limit what can be done with products after a sale. Just as Lexmark says it has a right to limit the resale or modification of its cartridges, car or drug companies could theoretically impose restrictions, seriously affecting resale markets and consumer choices.

 

[Yroc]

So lame. I would hope that we could at least retain the freedom to do what we want with the stuff we buy and own!!

...Welcome to america, you are free to do what we tell you...

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I doubt the supreme court will rule in Lexmark's favor.

 

[Yroc]

Yeah, I would think that the rooting/jailbreaking phones is already a precedent for this. You are allowed to do what you want with your phone, but you void your warranty....I believe this went to the supreme court as well.

 

[kdw75]

Another example of a case that should have been thrown out. The judge that ruled on this should be disciplined. Very cut and dry.