HP has lost a long-running court battle with 123inkt.nl which supplies third-party print supplies.
The maker of expensive printer ink had claimed that supplier infringed patents related to memory chips found in print cartridges by producing cartridges that had too many similarities.
The court agreed with 123inkt.nl that HP’s patents were invalid and designed to obtain a monopoly on the print supplies market.
The Dutch business at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands is the third time it has won against HP, following decisions in the Court of The Hague and the Court of Appeal of The Hague in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
Court documents show that HP must pay 123inkt.nl’s legal fees, which it estimates to be €67,000.
Gerben Kreuning, director of 123inkt.nl, said (translated from Dutch): “I am happy with this Supreme Court ruling, [which shows] that it is definitively clear that what we are doing is allowed. We were fortunate not to be put off by HP’s show of power. When I’m wrong, I admit that without any trouble, but when I’m not wrong and power games are being played, I think ‘come on, I’m not afraid of you!’. [One can] see the beautiful result here.”
123inkt.nl says this third ruling means it is “definitely clear” that it can continue trading the independent cartridges in question.
The Dutch business provides a range of cartridges compatible with printer manufacturers including Brother, Canon and Epson.
HP is rather cross saying that it had successfully enforced the same European patent in other countries and is studying this ruling to understand the basis for the decision, particularly given the court’s finding that its patent is valid.
The company said, in an official statement: “We disagree with the court’s ruling. HP has successfully enforced the same European patent in other countries and is studying this ruling to understand the basis for their decision, particularly given the court’s finding that our patent is valid. HP makes a tremendous investment in developing innovative products for our customers and we will continue to actively protect our intellectual property rights in the Netherlands and abroad.”
