Dec. 17, 2014 – Is a photosensitive drum including an OEM “dongle” gear and a third party’s sleeve classified as a permissible “repair”? This question is critical to each side of the current on- going 337-TA-918 investigation. However, nobody has given a convincing answer to this question.
More respondents are settling with Canon under a term that any cartridge including a photosensitive drum that was not made by or on behalf of Canon or its affiliate is not permitted unless there is a final adjudication of permissible repair or any analogous defense. As such, if no respondents challenge this point and subsequently win their case, then Canon’s term would severely impact the remanufacturing industry, as reuse of an OEM “dongle” gear with a non- OEM drum sleeve would be prohibited, and reuse of an OEM ‘dongle” gear with an OEM drum sleeve is not practical.
The remanufacturers are becoming more and more concerned that the door to remanufactured OEM “dongle” gear cartridges would be closed and the corresponding manufactured products would soon be cleared from the market.
As a market leader Print-Rite has always respected other manufacturers’ patents, but in an effort to address this industry concern our R&D department has dedicated a large part of its resource in an effort to find a workable solution to this problem. After many months of research & development, Print-Rite is pleased to announce a breakthrough with our PR-2 drum gear, an innovation to replace the OEM “dongle” gear. PR-2 drum gear has received non-infringement opinions from two prominent US patent firms and further, PR-2 gear has obtained worldwide patent protection. Print-Rite has strong confidence that PR-2 gear will alleviate the industry concerns of “dongle” patents and leave a door open for the remanufacturers to invigorate the manufacturing business regardless of the aftermath of the ITC investigation.
PR-2 gear is suitable for a wide range of monochrome cartridges and drums, including but not limited to HP CE505, Canon CF280, and HP CE255 series. For more details, please contact ….
About INNOPAT
INNOPAT Intellectual Property Co., Ltd. is a professional patent and trademark agency authorized by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China and registered in the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.
INNOPAT boasts a great team of experienced patent attorneys, trademark attorneys and patent engineers with the background of comprehensive fields of natural science including electronics and telecommunication, mechanism, physics, semi-conductor, chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and biologic technology, etc. Ms. Helen Duan, the firm founder, has over 20 years IP practice experience, including once worked in China Yangzi Group, ZTE Telecommunication Corporation and Print-Rite Group.
INNOPAT practice areas of expertise include patent searching for China patents and preliminary investigation for US, EP, JP and Taiwanese patents, patent infringement study, invalidity investigation and designing around valid patents.
In 2004, INNOPAT was ranked as one of “The Most Qualified IP Service Companies in Guangdong China”. In 2010, INNOPAT was awarded as “IP Enforcement Legal Aid Associate of Guangdong China”. In 2012, Ms. Helen Duan was honored as one of the China Patent Leading Talent and China Patent Information Expert awarded by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China. In 2013, Ms. Helen Duan was awarded the title “ACPAA’s First List of National Top Level Talent in Patent Agency Industry”.
