 Seiko Epson announced that it has commenced a patent-infringement lawsuit against Dynamic Cassette International (DCI) in the UK¡¯s High Court of Justice. Very few details are available on the lawsuit at this early juncture. Epson says only that the ¡°infringing cartridges are sold in the UK and in many other countries.¡±
Based in Boston, UK, DCI makes the well-known Jet Tec line of non-OEM supplies. The company manufactures compatible inkjet cartridges for a number of printer brands including Brother, Canon, and Epson. It also sells remanufactured Dell, HP, and Lexmark inkjet cartridges; Jet Tec inkjet refill kits; and remanufactured toner cartridges. According to DCI¡¯s website it has a monthly production capacity of 2 million compatibles, 1 million remanufactured cartridges, and 500,000 refill kits.
Epson compatibles have long been a key product category for DCI/Jet Tec DCI has been in business since 1983. After Epson launched its inkjet cartridges featuring the Intellidge microchip in 2000, DCI was one of the first vendors to offer compatibles for these ¡°chipped¡± cartridges using its own chip design. In following years, the firm greatly expanded its line of Epson compatibles and of other products as well.
For many years, Epson was one of the inkjet OEMs that lost the most market share to non-OEM supplies vendors because its ink tanks were relatively easy to clone. However, throughout the last decade, Epson has perhaps been one of the most litigious OEMs, filing numerous patent-infringement lawsuits against many different aftermarket cartridges makers and distributors in an effort to win back share. The OEM won a big victory in 2007 when the U.S. International Trade Commission granted it a general exclusion order, allowing Epson to win back significant market share in the United States. Epson, however, is fighting to protect its intellectual property not just in the United States but around the world¡ªand in this instance in the UK. We will report more on this story as details become available. |