Canon wins inkjet cartridge suit

Canon Inc. prevailed Thursday in a lawsuit against a seller of recycled versions of its inkjet printer cartridges in a Supreme Court rejection of a lower court ruling that favored the defendant firm.

This was the top court's first decision ever on whether a manufacturer can have patent rights on recycled versions of its own patented products.

Canon filed the suit against Recycle Assist Co., which sold recycled ink cartridges imported from a Chinese contractor that bored holes in used Canon ink cartridges and poured ink into them made by a different company.

The recycled versions sold for ¥600 to ¥700, compared with between ¥800 and ¥1,000 for genuine Canon ink cartridges.

The Tokyo District Court in December 2004 rejected Canon's suit on grounds that its patent rights did not cover recycled goods that could be categorized as repaired goods.

In January 2006, however, the Intellectual Property High Court upheld the suit, ruling that alteration or replacement of any essential component of a patented product constituted a patent infringement. The Supreme Court sided with this decision Thursday.