The USITC’s headquarters in Washington D.C.
The seizure-and-forfeiture orders affect “toner cartridges and certain components thereof” and relate to historic general exclusion orders (GEO) secured by Lexmark and Canon.
Clover has issued a statement in relation to the seizures saying that “no Clover products were seized by customs”. The company had sent “two small shipments of empty printer cartridges” from some of its Canadian clients to Mexicali, Mexico, but they were misaddressed to its California warehouse.
“The mistake was detected at the US border and when Customs notified Clover we rerouted the shipments to the correct destination.”
The relevant Lexmark GEO was awarded in 2011 and the Canon GEO was secured in 2013. Last month seizure orders related to the Canon GEO were issued to Clear Imaging Inc. and Magna Ink Corporation, also related to the movement of “certain toner cartridges and components thereof”.
Amazon was also issued with a seize-and-forfeiture order related to “inkjet ink supplies and components thereof” in relation to a GEO granted to HP in 2011. One of the patents which it covers, 6,089,687, was also part of the OEM’s recently settled case against aftermarket groups Apex and Ninestar.