Image from Canon’s patent at the centre of the case
The OEM has received the judge’s recommendation for an exclusion order in the long-running case.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC)’s David P. Shaw, the Administrative Law Judge working on Canon’s patent infringement case against a host of aftermarket companies, has recommended that “the Commission issue a general exclusion order” for infringing products in the legal case.
The initial determination (requires EDIS login) from the judge, signed on February 28, means that whilst his opinion is that a General Exclusion Order should be implemented, the USITC must make that judgement, and in turn such an order must be signed into action by President Obama.
General Exclusion Orders prohibit and aim to prevent the unlicensed entry of infringing products into the United States, with many OEMs obtaining such orders in previous cases against aftermarket or third party manufacturers. In this case, any of the companies still involved in the manufacture of infringing products related to the case will not be able to import infringing toner cartridges into the United States as a result.
The case, which began in January 2012, saw a flurry of settlements throughout the duration of the year, with Nukote, Onlinetechstores.com, Zinyaw LLC/TonerPirate.com and Green Project joining Clover in agreeing settlements with the OEM.