An image from Canon’s European patent application EP 2 790 065 A1
The OEM has applied for four patents in Europe that have varying levels of relevancy and significance for the remanufacturing and compatible industries.
The first two documents – EP 2 786 210 A1 and EP 2 786 211 A2 – refer to a developer device or accommodating unit comprising of a flexible container that in turn accommodates the developer. The 210 patent details the frame that accommodates the container as well as an urging member, which “urges” the container to “deform”, while the 211 patent discusses the conveyance of the developer from the container to the cartridge itself.
These two applications are potentially significant for the remanufacturing industry as, if granted, it appears that any replacement of the flexible containers during remanufacturing or refilling could infringe the patents. Another application – EP 2 790 065 A1 – is also significant in that it is seemingly related to the “dongle gear” patents that Canon has been fighting many legal battles over in both Europe and the USA over the past year.
The document refers to a cartridge “detachably mountable” to a laser printer apparatus, and refers to the rotatable member, its connecting portions and the shafts, with details on the construction of the gears in the document – and the image accompanying it – seeming to echo the other, well-known dongle gear patents defended by the OEM in cases begun in February and May in the USA.
It also began other IP cases against companies across Europe throughout 2014 relating to the gear: including Seine and Aster in the Netherlands; KMP and wta as well as tintenalarm.de in Germany; European Cartridge Warehouse Limited and Printer Supplies Technology Limited in the UK; Zephyr SAS and Aster in France; and X-Com Shop Ltd. and OOO “Softrade” in Russia.
The final application, EP 2 796 935 A1, relates to a developer container made up of two frames within a coupling structure, and the potential infringement inherent in this case is that if such a structure is destroyed and must be replaced during remanufacturing, the manufacturing of the frame itself might lead to infringement if used within the cartridge in question.
Canon has previously registered patent applications with implications for the industry in Europe, including one covering remanufacturing techniques that trade association ETIRA has contested, as well as others in June 2014 and December 2012. David Connett also recently discussed what remanufacturers can do to avoid being sued by Canon when it comes to the dongle gear.