European Cartridge Warehouse Ltd. (ECW) and Printer Supplies Technology Ltd. (PST) have filed for dissolution again, a year after filing the first time.
The two companies were named in Canon’s UK patent infringement action last year, which saw Canon claim both companies infringed its European patent (UK) number 2 087 407 by importing and selling “certain toner cartridges for use in various models of Hewlett-Packard laser beam printers”. The case related to the same patent mentioned in cases begun against companies across Europe throughout 2014: including Seine and Aster in the Netherlands; KMP and wta as well as tintenalarm.de in Germany; and Zephyr SAS and Aster in France.
The two companies, which were run by Peter Lui and based in Warrington, UK, first filed for dissolution in August last year with the UK’s Companies House company registration office. They did so using a ‘Striking off application’, in the text of which Companies House notes a business using the form “has applied to the Registrar to be struck off the Register and dissolved”, with all “remaining assets” of any company that is dissolved “passed to the Crown”.
However, in October last year, both saw their attempts to be struck off suspended “due to an objection”. Both applications were received, but the companies received a ‘Striking off action suspended’ notice, which states: “Action pursuant to Section 1003 of the Companies Act 2006 for the striking off and dissolution of the above company has been suspended as an objection has been received by the Registrar.”
In February this year, Canon confirmed that it had succeeded in obtaining default judgements against both companies, with the High Court of Justice of England and Wales “enter[ing] default judgement” as of 22 January against ECW and PST, with the end result being that the court has “granted remedies including an injunction forbidding ECW and PST from selling the toner cartridges which were the subject of the legal proceedings”, as well as ordering both to “deliver up or destroy any of the said cartridges in their possession, custody and control”.