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| IP Q&A |
| Intellectual
Property |
| The
Next Aftermarket Battleground
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What is IP?
Intellectual Property Law, or IP, is composed of three primary fields: patents,
copyrights, and trademarks. IP continues to expand as intellectual property
claimants become even more sophisticated in protecting what they have created.
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| "SCC has been investing to mitigate
the IP threat to SCC and our customers for the past 10 years." |
Ed Swartz
SCC CEO and Founder |
| "The top priority of our
five-attorney in-house IP staff is to avoid IP infringement issues for SCC and
our customers." |
William Skip London
SCC General Counsel |
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Q. HP sued Inkcycle over ink
formulation patents. Are there technologies and products I utilize in my laser
cartridges that could infringe somebody's IP position?
A. Absolutely. You have potential IP infringement issues with both OEM
and aftermarket IP positions..
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Q. What will SCC do if someone
infringes your IP portfolio?
A. We would attempt to bring such a party into compliance.
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Q. How are aftermarket chips affected by OEM IP position?
A. There are both patent and copyright issues. What is difficult with
chip technologies
is that it is necessary to fully understand the expanded range of capabilities
of the OEM firmware and OEM chip design. Armed with this knowledge, you know
what IP constraints you are under when developing an aftermarket replacement
chip. The only way we know of to accomplish this is to comprehensively reverse
engineer and map the printer's operating system/firmware, printer electronics,
and OEM chip to gain that level of knowledge of possible IP constraints. If an
aftermarket chip developer chooses not to perform this exhaustive and expensive
process then, in our opinion,they are essentially "flying blind" in terms of
potential IP infringement..
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Q. We are seeing OEM "knockoff" cores in our incoming
empties. Are these possibly counterfeit and, if they are, what can we do about
it?
A. There are a number of OEM counterfeit toner cartridge producers in SE
Asia. To the best of your ability, you do not want to use them. Using a
counterfeit core most certainly creates an IP infringement issue. Cartridge
resellers are especially vulnerable to the issue of counterfeit cores; they are
most disconnected from the nuts and bolts of the cartridge technology. A
reseller could unknowingly be purchasing products based on counterfeit cores no
matter where they are produced - U.S., Europe or SE Asia. In the world of IP
infringement everybody in the chain that touches the product is potentially
liable, whether they had knowledge of the IP infringement or not.
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Q. I hear a lot about color chemical toner being
heavily patented and that this is an issue for the aftermarket. I just buy it;
I don't have any idea of its IP position. Could I have an IP infringement issue
with my color toner?
A. Your toner could infringe one of several patent portfolios depending
on who is the actual manufacturer and their patent position. Extensive patent
portfolios, held by just a few toner manufacturers (principally OEMs) tightly
control the color toner manufacturing and formulation process. Your toner
manufacturer either needs to own or be licensed under one of these portfolios
in order to have a clear legal pathway to produce and sell their product. |
Q. IP is obviously huge, complex, and vital. My
company doesn't have the resources to do all of this. What can we do?
A. By using SCC's products and technologies you operate under SCC's IP
umbrella created over a 10 year period. To avoid infringement issues with the
products SCC develops and sources from manufacturing partners, our IP team
conducts in-depth due diligence of OEM and aftermarket IP positions. Our
extensive IP portfolio includes positions regarding chips, software, seals,
clips, developer rollers, conversion technology processes, tooling, and
material processes. We have created this portfolio primarily to provide a
technological pathway and the necessary products to limit the potential for
multiple future "Heiber" enforcement issues. |
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| SCC Offers Protection from Heiber
Patent Claims |
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| You may have recently received a
communication from attorneys representing Heiber Patent Licensing, Inc.
regarding how your sealing methods for many HP cartridges may infringe claims
of the Heiber patents, U.S. patent numbers 5,223,068; 5,525,183; 5,676,794; and
5,407,518. Apparently, the letter offers you an opportunity to discuss
licensing including a per cartridge royalty and accounting for all past sales
of remanufactured cartridges using the patented technology.
Static Control takes these patents very seriously and, as a consequence, is
fully licensed under these patents. You can be secure in the knowledge that
Static Control split hopper seals and splitters are licensed and, therefore, do
not infringe the Heiber patents. However, to take full advantage of this
license, you must use both Static Control's splitters and its split hopper
seals.
Static Control will defend and indemnify its customers from any claims from
Heiber arising out of your use of SCC's seals and SCC's splitters. This
indemnity does not apply to the extent you use or have used seals or splitters
from some source other than Static Control.
If you use seals or splitters from other suppliers, you should contact those
suppliers to determine whether they are fully licensed under the Heiber
patents. If they are not, you and your seal technology supplier may need to
enter into licensing discussions with the Heiber patent attorneys.
For additional information, please feel free to contact us directly.
Thank you for your continued support.
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| CONCERNED
ABOUT PATENTS
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| You may have seen the full page ad by Heiber
Patent Corporation regarding the following Raymond J. Baley Jr. patents: |
5,223,068; 5,525,183; 5,676,794; 5,407,518
These patents are directed toward the Separation of Laser Toner Hoppers and to
DEVICES for achieving such separation.
Static Control takes these patents very seriously and is fully licensed under
these patents. Its customers can be secure in the knowledge that Static Control
products are in total compliance with the Baley patents.
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| Leading
the way in patent research
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| providing
customer's peace of mind |
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