Judge Gives Favorable Ruling to Collins Inkjet in Dispute with Kodak

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U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett has ruled that Kodak must adhere to an injunction that it not differentiate pricing for print-head refurbishing services based on whether the customer uses Collins ink or Kodak ink for use with Kodak Versamark production printers – that is until and if a preliminary injunction issued on March 6th by the Southern District Court is overturned on appeal .

Under the March 6th ruling, the Southern District court of Ohio issued a preliminary injunction that prohibited Kodak from differentiating the price for print-head refurbishing services based on the ink, either from Collins or Kodak, that a customer used. In mid July, Collins says it learned that Kodak had continued to engage in differential pricing.

Under the new ruling Kodak must also pay a portion of Collins InkJet’s attorney’s fees, as well as send customers letters customers establishing compliance with pricing for print-head refurbishment.

In September 2013, Collins sued Kodak, claiming that Kodak was unfairly trying to get it out of the Versamark ink business by telling users of the Kodak Versamark production printers that print-head refurbishment would cost more if they used non-Kodak inks.

In an August 13th blog post, Collins Inkjet CEO Lawrence Gambllin stated: “First and foremost, I would like to apologize to customers who have been caught in the middle of the conflict between Collins Inkjet and Kodak. I am embarrassed at having been put in a position where I felt it was necessary for Collins Inkjet to take action against Kodak. However, if we had not taken action, Kodak would have been able to push Collins Inkjet out of a market we had operated freely in for almost 25 years for inks I have been formulating since 1982.”

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