How to deal with printer supplies in a way which is legally safe

„Resellers dealing with compatible consumables would be well advised to examine their sources of supplies very carefully and seek assurance from their suppliers that the merchandise does not infringe any intellectual property rights”, wrote German ChannelPartner on their website on 4 December. This rather trivial information gains new importance through the temporary injunctions which Samsung has recently obtained against some resellers in Germany. But what is the best way to attend to your duty to inspect?

Samsung’s proceeding, which also other original equipment manufacturers have already taken, may only be the thin end of the wedge. Whether it is the dealer or the end-user, it is rarely possible in practice to check the patent situation of an inkjet or toner cartridge in detail. It is a bit like the quality of printer supplies. You are only able to reliably assess it if in fact it is too late. There are a few indicators however which are often sufficient to identify a counterfeit.

Guide from the umbrella organization of the Recyclers

“Currently, new-built Non-OEM cartridges are the biggest risk for the European hardcopy market”, states the German magazine Digital Imaging in its May/June issue 2012. ETIRA, the European umbrella organization of recyclers of printer supplies, offers its “Guide to Clones” as an orientation guide on how to identify such and further problematic printer supplies.

According to this guide you are legally safe only with

• IPR-cleared (IPR: Intellectual Property) compatible products as well as
• printer supplies from fair remanufacturing

You are on the wrong path however if you purchase or put into circulation

• counterfeit 100 %-clones,
• clones,
• infringing compatible cartridges,
• falsely remanufactured products or
• cartridges which have been remanufactured in an infringing way

IPR-free compatible printer supplies can be identified by following features:

• working solution
• no OEM trademark used
• no OEM appearance
• no OEM patent used (where possible)

You can recognize inkjet and toner cartridges which have been remanufactured in a correct and fair way by

• already used OEM cartridges
• marks of removed OEM brand names, etc.
• Only components are used which do not infringe patents, design or brands rights (where possible)

Legally safe Printer supplies Guaranteed

If you look for compatible printer supplies, exclusively bet on known and trustworthy brands who do not manufacture in Far East. If you decide for KMP, legal certainty is guaranteed to you. The largest family-owned company in Europe within the industry and founding member of ETIRA respects the intellectual property rights of both OEMs and competitors.

Hence, a proper consideration of each particular patent situation is an essential element of the product development process at KMP. To cope with that challenge and to ensure legally compliant products, our own IP-experts strongly cooperate with several patent attorneys in Munich, where the European Patent Office is located. KMP takes this effort as a fair competitor in the market and thus can guarantee that their products are free of rights of third parties.

For further information visit: www.kmp.com/en/IPR