Canon Signs Another Settlement Agreement

Canon Signs Another Settlement Agreement

According to Canon, it has reached an agreement with M & S Vertrieb Service GmbH (legal successor of M & S Vertrieb Service OHG) as well as its managing directors over a patent dispute.

A settlement agreement was signed between the parties where M & S Vertrieb Service OHG inter alia have agreed to cease and desist declaration based on the infringement of the German portion of Canon’s European Patent EP 2 087 407 B1, being Canon’s well known “dongle-gear” patent.

Further, M & S Vertrieb Service OHG will pay damages for any past infringements to Canon. All other details of the settlement agreement are confidential.

German patent attorney, Dr Katja Dauster, patent attorney at Ruff, Wilhelm, Beier, Dauster & Partner, has warned German and European that retailers selling refurbished (remanufactured) cartridges have been found guilty of infringement of the “Dongle Gear Patent” (EP 2 087 407 B1) by the regional court in Düsseldorf, Germany (Landgericht Düsseldorf, 4a O 44/14; 4a O 45/14; 4a O 45/14).

“This may have given retailers a false sense of security, assuming that—unlike selling new-built compatibles—selling refurbished cartridges is legally safe,” Dauster told RT Media.  “However, there isn’t any act that states that refurbished or recycled products are excluded from obligations to ensure that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) such as patents or design rights of others are not infringed when placing products on the market.”

She added that retailers selling refurbished cartridges may not be aware that they are relying only on the so-called principle of exhaustion or first sale doctrine. “According to this principle of exhaustion, it is assumed that the holder of the IPR receives sufficient economic return when first placing the product on the market. Consequently, the right of the IPR holder to control the use or movement of one particular product is exhausted with the first sale of this product either by the IPR holder or with his consent.”

Recently, Canon has also entered into a settlement agreement with Globest Trading Inc., and Globest’s parent company, Internet Brand Development HK Limited (IBD). It is said that all parties were able to amicably resolve a pending lawsuit between Canon and Globest in the Central District of California.

Related:

• Canon Settles Amicably with Globest
• Canon Asks for More Infringing Cartridges to be Removed
• Three More Removal Requests by Canon to Amazon
• New Canon Dongle Gear Solution Released at RemaxWorld
• Canon Pulls Products off Amazon in Australia USA and UK

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