Epson's right to gouge you on ink upheld in US court.

Post #280,690

4/4/07 10:31:55 PM

[link|http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUST12351920070404|Reuters]:

Japan's Seiko Epson Corp., said on Wednesday it won a preliminary ruling in a dispute in the United States that would block imports of printer ink cartridges that violate Epson's patents.

In February 2006, Seiko Epson, the world's No. 2 ink jet printer maker after Hewlett-Packard, filed the case with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against a group of 24 suppliers that import and sell Epson-compatible cartridges.

o o o

The order would block all imports of products that infringe on Epson's patents, not only the ones made by the 24 suppliers involved in the dispute.

Dollars to donuts the patent is not an innovation but an anti-competitive gimmick.

Epson is not the worst offender.

Alex

When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis

Post #280,694

by static

4/4/07 11:44:20 PM

Epson is one of the most visible.

They run lots of ads about using genuine Epson inks.

There was a brou-ha-ha in the Australian computing press a few months ago, centred around Epson. It included accounts of printers being wrecked by non-Epson inks and Epson defending it's practices, especially mentioning how most printers that they see for warranty repairs are due to non-Epson ink. It was inconclusive.

Having said that, I've got non-genuine inks in my Epson printer and it still prints fine.

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed

Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please

-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

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Post #280,699

by drewk

4/5/07 12:30:37 AM

Same here

$6 vs $19 for the same cartridge, and they work fine. Well, they did work fine. The only problem now is that, due to long periods of not using it, and it sits on a table in front of a south-facing window, a couple of nozzles on the yellow print head have become clogged. If I ever start to care about that, I guess I'll go get a cleaning kit.

===

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Post #280,749

by tonytib

4/5/07 12:19:53 PM

That's why I buy and recommend Canon

Their printers are excellent and well priced, the ink tanks are easy to refill, and there's no chipping.

This move is very stupid for Epson; third party inks are just about money, but about more choices. For example, some companies make quadtone inks for the Epson printers.

Of course, I recommend Sony for D-SLR's, but that's make there's nothing else with the user interface of the KM/Sony 7D.

--Tony

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