Lexmark Wins Injunction

Printer maker Lexmark International Group won a preliminary injunction Feb. 27^th in efforts to prevent a company from selling computer chips that allow toner cartridges to be recycled.

Judge Karl Forester of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued the pretrial injunction against Static Control Components, a Sanford, N.C.-based company that sells printer parts and other business supplies.

The order prohibits the company from selling its Smartek chip. When installed in compatible Lexmark printers, the chips allow the printers to use cheaper recycled toner cartridges that would otherwise be rejected by the printer's sensors.

Lexmark filed the suit late last year, alleging the Smartek chip violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits the dismantling of devices intended to protect intellectual property rights.

In passing down his ruling, Judge Karl Forester said, "The Court has no trouble accepting SCC's claim that public policy generally favors competition. The Court finds, however, that this general principle only favors legitimate competition. Public policy certainly does not support copyright infringement and violations of the DMCA in the name of competition."

"We are very pleased with the court's decision," said Vincent Cole, Lexmark's general counsel. "We invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually in research and development to help ensure that we are providing the very best technologies and the finest services and support to our valued customers. We believe that our printing solutions and services make us unique, and we intend to vigorously protect the intellectual property that helps to set us apart from our competition," he said.

 Printer makers have employed a variety of technological means in recent years to undercut the market for recycled toner and ink cartridges, which typically sell for much less than original items. Most printer makers sell their printers at or near cost, making their profit from sales of supplies.