Canon Obtains Amazon Toner Take-Downs, Injunction
Canon Inc. of Tokyo, Japan, continues to pursue unauthorized third-party toner-cartridges designed for use primarily with HP laser printers, and which it says infringe on its patents, announcing new toner-cartridge take-downs from the Amazon ecommerce website, as well as the granting of a preliminary injunction.
Amazon Take-Downs
My Tech di Fiorellino Franco
On October 10th, Canon announced it filed a Report Infringement Form with Amazon UK based on the alleged use of claims 1 and 25 of the U.K. portion of Canon’s European Patent EP 2 087 407 regarding the cartridge model “CE505A” offered by My Tech di Fiorellino Franco under the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) B01BX29XJW. Afterwards, Amazon took down the product, which is compatible with the HP cartridge model CE505A and provides inter alia a non-OEM coupling member, a non-OEM drum as well as a non-OEM housing.
In all three cases, Canon noted that filing a Report Infringement Form with Amazon is a service offered by Amazon and does not comprise any official finding of validity or infringement of a patent. The decision to take down a product is in the discretion of Amazon and is based on information provided by Canon. Amazon informed the vendors about the take-downs request and the vendors may object to it.
Dog Ink Limited
On October 10th, Canon announced that it filed Report Infringement Forms with Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.it and Amazon.es based on the alleged use of claims 1 and 2 of the Germany, UK, Italian and Spanish portion of Canon’s European Patent EP 1 977 289 (“EP ‘289”) regarding certain models of toner cartridges offered by Dog Ink Limited under the following ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers).
| Country | Cartridge model | ASIN |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | CC530A CC531A CC532A CC533A |
B07PZRXJDD |
| B07P8RMZQT | ||
| UK | CC530A CC531A CC532A CC533A |
B07PZRXJDD |
| B07P8RMZQT | ||
| Italy | CC530A CC531A CC532A CC533A |
B07PZRXJDD |
| Spain | CC530A CC531A CC532A CC533A |
B07PZRXJDD |
| B07P8RMZQT |
Afterwards, Amazon took down the respective products. These products are compatible with the OEM HP cartridge models and provide inter alia a non-OEM housing and a non-OEM force receiving device according to claim 1 of EP ‘289. Furthermore, they comprise an elastic portion according to claim 2 of EP ‘289.
INTERNET BRAND DEVELOPMENT
On October 10th, Canon announced that it filed Report Infringement Forms with Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.it and Amazon.es based on the alleged use of claims 1 and 2 of the Germany, UK, Italian and Spanish portions of Canon’s European Patent EP 1 977 289 (“EP ‘289”) regarding certain models of toner cartridges offered by INTERNET BRAND DEVELOPMENT (HK) LIMITED under the following ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers).
| Country | Cartridge model | ASIN |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | CF210X CF210A CF211A CF212A CF213A |
B01E9T1V2I |
| UK | CF210X CF210A CF211A CF212A CF213A |
B01E9T1V2I |
| Italy | CF210X CF210A CF211A CF212A CF213A |
B01E9T1V2I |
| Spain | CF210X CF210A CF211A CF212A CF213A |
B01E9T1V2I |
Afterwards, Amazon took down the respective products. These products are compatible with the HP toner-cartridge models and provide inter alia a non-OEM housing and a non-OEM force receiving device according to claim 1 of EP ‘289. Furthermore, they comprise an elastic portion according to claim 2 of EP ‘289.
ShopCartridges
On October 9th, Canon announced it filed an infringement report with Amazon.ca seeking removal of an Amazon.ca listing for certain toner cartridges sold by ShopCartridges.
Canon’s infringement report alleged that certain model CC530A, CC531A, CC532A, CC533A, CE410X, CE410A, CE411A, CE412A, CE413A, CF380X, CF381A, CF382A and CF383A toner cartridges sold by ShopCartridges via Amazon.ca infringed Canon’s Canadian Patent no. 2,635,791. Canon requested the removal of the corresponding listings for these products, namely Amazon Standard Identification Numbers B01IRK6DM8, B01IRM25KA, B01IRMBHV8, B01IRN46K6, B01I23FQC8 and B01I24PS5W.
At the time of this announcement, products sold under the above identified listings were no longer available on Amazon.ca.
In all four cases, Canon noted that filing an infringement report with Amazon.ca is a service offered by Amazon and does not constitute an official finding of infringement. The decision to take down a product is in the discretion of Amazon and is based on information provided by Canon.
Preliminary Injunction
On October 9th, Canon announced that the District Court Düsseldorf in Germany granted it a preliminary injunction against Venue Design & Consulting SRL-D, trading under “Ecoink,” as well as against its managing director.
The preliminary injunction is based on the infringement of the German portion of Canon’s European patent EP 2 087 407 relating to a drum unit and a process cartridge. The preliminary injunction enjoins Venue Design & Consulting SRL-D from offering and distributing laser toner cartridges comprising a drum unit with a certain coupling member via, for example, www.amazon.de. The infringing cartridges can replace the OEM cartridge models “HP CF280A,” “HP CE505A” and “HP CE255X,” which are compatible with HP laser printers.
Canon noted that the Defendants have the option to file an objection against the preliminary injunction. However, as service on defendants was effected, Canon can enforce this decision.
More Resources
- October 2019: Canon Announces Multiple Clone Toner-Take-Downs from Amazon
- October 2019: Canon Files Patent-Infringement Action, Requests Toner Take-Downs
- September 2019: Canon Takes Toner-Cartridge Patent-Infringement Campaign to Russia
- September 2019: Canon Announces New Amazon Toner Take-Downs, Russian Patent-Infringement Settlement
- September 2019: Canon Obtains More Toner Take-Downs from Amazon
- September 2019: Canon Obtains a Host of Amazon Toner-Take-Downs
More Resources