On January 23, 2012, Canon Inc. of Japan, Canon U.S.A., Inc. of Lake Success, NY, and Canon Virginia, Inc., of Newport News, VA filed another complaint with the ITC to begin an investigation into two patents. At the same time, Canon filed civil action against the respondents in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for the same patents. The two photoconductor patents are the same two patents that Canon had previously alleged patent infringement in 2010 for an ITC complaint (337-TA-731). This investigation was terminated in May 2011 due to the issue of a consent order prohibiting all 20 respondents including Ninestar from importing into the U.S. The patents are 5,903,803 and 6,128,454.
Table: Canon Patents in Court Proceedings 1/23/2012
| Patent Number | Date Issued | Description |
| 5,903,803 | May 11, 1999 | Process cartridge, electrophotographic image forming apparatus, driving force transmission part, and electrophotographic photosensitive drum |
| 6,128,454 | October 3, 2000 | Process cartridge image forming apparatus, driving force transmission part, and electrophotographic photosensitive drum |
Loosely defined, the patents are related to a projection on a drum that is designed to receive a rotational force from a hole in a laser beam printer so that the drum may be rotated. The projection on the cartridge enables it to be easily inserted and removed from the printer by the user and at the same time enables the drum to be rotated smoothly for a high quality printed image. The defendants in the case are listed below in Table 2 and the list following. Canon believes that the retailer/reseller companies receive some of the allegedly infringing product from the remanufacturers in Table 2.
Table 2: Remanufacturer Companies in the Complaint
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| Clover Respondents | Orink Respondents | Nukote Respondents |
| Clover Holdings, Inc. (Hoffman Estates, IL) | Shanghai Orink Infotech International Co., Ltd. (China) | Nukote, Inc. (Plano, TX) |
| Clover Technologies Group, LLC dba Depot International f/k/a Depot America f/k/a Image1 Products (Ottawa, IL) | Orink Infotech International Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong) | Nukote International de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. of Mexico |
| Clover Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Vietnam) | Zhuhai Rich Imaging Technology Co., Ltd. (China) | ? |
| Dataproducts USA, LLC (Thousand Oaks, CA) | Standard Image Co., Ltd. a/k/a Shanghai Orink Co., Ltd. (China) | ? |
| Dataproducts Imaging Solutions S.A. de C.V. of Mexico | Zhuhai National Resources & Jingjie Imaging Products Co., Ltd. d/b/a Huebon Co., Ltd. d/b/a Ink-Tank of China | ? |
| CAU, Inc. d/b/a Cartridges Are Us (Ithaca, MI) | Standard Image USA, Inc. d/b/a Imaging Standard Inc. (Santa Ana, CA) | ? |
| ? | Printronic Corporation d/b/a Printronic.com d/b/a InkSmile.com (Santa Ana, CA) | ? |
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Companies in the Complaint ? Retailer/Reseller Respondents
?Acecom, Inc. ?San Antonio d/b/a InkSell.com (San Antonio, TX)
?Atman, Inc. s/b/a pcRUSH.com (El Segundo, CA)
?Dexxxon Digital Storage, Inc. (Columbus, WI)
?Discount Office Items, Inc.; Deal Express LLC d/b/a Discount Office Items (Columbus, WI)
?Do It Wiser LLC d/b/a Image Toner (Marietta, GA)
?E-Max Group, Inc. d/b/a Databazaar.com (Miramar, FL)
?Green Project, Inc. (Hacienda Heights, CA)
?GreenLine Paper Company, Inc. (York, PA)
?IJSS Inc. d/b/a TonerZone.com d/b/a InkJetSuperstore.com (Los Angeles, CA)
?Imaging Resources, LLC (Chatsworth, CA)
?Ink Technologies Printer Supplies, LLC (Dayton, OH)
?Myriad Greeyn LLC (Virginia Beach, VA)
?Office World, Inc.; OfficeWorld.com, Inc. (Eugene, OR)
?OnlineTechStores.com, Inc. d/b/a SuppliesOutlet.com (Reno, NV)
?SupplyBuy.com, Inc. (Nashville, TN)
?Virtual Imaging Products Inc. (Canada)
?Zinyaw LLC d/b/a TonerPirate.com (Houston, TX)
Industry Impact:
This newly filed ITC complaint and concurrent court cases by Canon are significant for a variety of reasons although it raises more questions than answers at the moment. The proceedings include so many aftermarket companies including Clover and Nukote. It is one of the few times that Clover and its related companies have been included in a case like this. As the largest aftermarket company with a reputation on being very careful about IP issues, Clover as a defendant sends a message to the rest of the aftermarket industry. This?could have a trickle down affect which goes beyond just the aftermarket to affect some of Clover?s largest customers including office supply superstores. The resolution of these cases could have very far and wide-reaching impact on the aftermarket in terms of products and company activities.
The patents also affect so many products which are used in HP supplies that HP buys from Canon. In an effort to protect its patents from potential infringement, Canon is pushing very hard on this specific issue since this was not the first time that Canon has filed for these particular patents. Even though Canon did not receive a favorable outcome, the company had also pursued the same drum patent issue in Korea last year where many aftermarket companies obtain their drums. In addition, Canon has pursued this very issue with the ITC before with different defendants. This time, the company has included much more evidence and is requesting a GEO (General Exclusion Order) which could have greater impact on the industry compared to a consent order since it would affect all companies that import these products into the United States.
Table 3: Products Affected by Patents
| Canon | HP |
| 104, 106, 306, 706, FX-6, FX-7, FX-8, FX-9, FX-10, L50, S3, X25 | C4096A, C4127A/X, C4129X, C7115A/X, C8061A/X, C8543A/X, CB435A, CB436A, CC364A/X, CE278A, CD285A, Q1338A/X, Q1339A, Q2610A, Q2612A/X, Q2613A/X, Q2624A/X, Q5942A/X, Q5945A/X, Q5949A/X, Q6511A/X, Q7516A, Q7551A/X, Q7553A/X, Q7570A |
Regardless of the outcome, many expect that aftermarket companies will be able to find a workaround and find components that do not infringe by possibly switching suppliers.?It may also?force remanufacturers to scavenge for OEM parts to get the part they need if Canon is successful with these proceedings. In terms of suppliers, it has been noticed that Fuji and Mitsubishi, two of the largest drum producers, were not on the defendant list but many suspect that they are using the same gear. Some are wondering what would happen if the aftermarket moved to these suppliers for more of their drums. Reportedly, Static Control claims to have a drum that uses non-infringing patents but this could not be confirmed. If this is true, the aftermarket might consider this as valid solution. The downside is that prices for components could increase which would affect the aftermarket and they may be forced to pass their increased costs to the customers. In turn this would diminish the advantage for aftermarket products which gets back to the reason for Canon to pursue this strategy in the first place.
Source: http://blog.infotrends.com/?p=6239
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