Two were handed out in the USA, one to a Clover Technology subsidiary and one relating to the Canon dongle gear, though the Clover order was rescinded.
The two most recent seizure-and-forfeiture orders – handed out by US Customs and Border Protection on behalf of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) – were handed to Clover Technologies/Cartridges Are US, for infringing the ‘723 HP Inc inkjet GEO from 2011, and to CBD Group Inc for infringing the 337-TA-918 dongle gear GEO awarded to Canon.
The Clover order however was later rescinded, with Matt Gavronski, Clover Technologies Group’s Associate General Counsel, telling The Recycler that “while the cartridge components in question were initially denied entry by Customs, the components were found not to violate the GEO and have been released to Clover”.
72 orders were issued last year, with the two final orders given to June Shen for infringing the Epson 2007 ‘565 GEO, and another to Green Project for infringing the HP Inc inkjet ‘723 GEO. In early 2016, 11 were issued in January to: Smart and Easy Corp.; Appearances International; BCMY Corp.; Electric Zone Inc.; Ninestar; Prime Depot; Smart A Inc.; and then seven in February to Appearances International, Blue Planet Trading, Elmart Inc., MC Max, LLC, OW Supplies Corp., Topmay Inc and US Inker Technology.
Four were issued in early March to Amazon, JD Johnson, Ovacor Inc and Universal Ribbon Corporation, before seven more were handed out to five different companies later that month, including: two each to David & Yonathan Trade and United Toner LLC; and one each to Graphic Toners Inc; Katech Imaging; and Revol Trading. Another two reported in April included one for HT Tech Inc., for infringing the Epson ‘565 GEO – and for Wando LLC, for infringing Canon’s 2013 ‘829 GEO relating to the “twisted prism” gear on laser cartridges.
In May, eight more were handed down to the following: three to Compandsave.com Inc; and one each to Compu-Imaging Inc; GMC Online Trading LLC; Quantum Tech International Inc; Spectrum Imaging LLC; and Xcess Technology Inc. All the seizure orders this year variously related to Canon’s ‘918 dongle gear GEO, Epson’s ‘565 inkjet GEO, HP Inc’s inkjet ‘691 and ‘723 GEOs, and Lexmark’s ‘740 GEO.
In June, 11 more were issued, with six including three for breaching Epson’s ‘565 inkjet GEO, including LTS Consumables, Inc., Prinko Image Co. (USA) Inc., and Carla Seminario. Two of the remaining three were issued in relation to the ‘691 HP Inc GEO, to LTS Consumables and Smart and Easy Corp. Finally, the remaining order was to Emerald Recycling LLC for Canon’s ‘918 dongle gear GEO .
The Recycler also reported in June on five orders for EC Enterprise Inc., Laser Pros International, SID Trading Inc., Tech-Optics, Inc., and Widenrich Imaging Technologies LLC, all of which related to the dongle gear GEO. Tech-Optics also received an order relating to the Lexmark ‘740 GEO, and three more orders concerned the ‘337 HP Inc GEO, for Elmart Inc., PTS Portland Trade Services Inc., and Quantum Tech International Inc.
Four more were handed out in July, with the first handed to Inscribe Inc for infringing the ‘565 Epson GEO; the second to Parcel Pack Express for the ‘691 HP Inc GEO; the third to Emerald Recycling LLC for the ‘723 HP Inc GEO; and the fourth to YMCK Systems Inc. for the ‘740 Lexmark GEO. In September two orders made sure that 2016’s orders passed 2015’s total, with three handed to Audioland Electronic Corporation, for violating HP Inc’s ‘691 GEO and Epson’s two inkjet GEOs, the 2016 ‘946 GEO and the ‘565 GEO.
Two further orders were handed out in October to 99 Ink Inc. concerning both HP Inc’s ‘691 and ‘723 GEOs, and another in November to Straightoutaink for the HP Inc ‘691 GEO. Finally, five more were issued in December 2016 , three to Green Project Inc for infringing the Epson ‘565 GEO, HP Inc’s ‘691 GEO and Epson’s ‘946 GEO, while the other two were handed out to Discount Ink Inc. and Golden State FC LLC for infringing HP Inc’s ‘723 GEO.