More OEMs to Register Patents in Russia

According to the information agency Business-Inform, Russia is seeing more and more patent registrations from such printer OEMs as, Brother, Canon, Kyocera, Lexmark and Seine.

• Canon registered 4 new patents: RU 2520962 (Process Cartridge), RU 2521160 (Part Transmitting Rotation Force), RU 2521161 (Developer Cartridge and Electrographic Image Forming Apparatus), RU 2521143 (Electrophotographic Image Forming Apparatus, Developing Apparatus and Socket Element).
• Lexmark filed patent RU 2515220, Reinforced Sealing of Dosing Blade Assembly and Printer Cartridge with Such Sealing,
• Brother recorded patent RU 2523748, Cartridge,
• Kyocera booked patent RU 2523738, Rotation Limitation Element, Mechanical Device and Image Forming Device,
• Zhuhai Seine Technology patented RU 2524043, Cartridge for Toner with Locking Mechanism).

In Russia, compatible cartridges enjoy more than a 20% market share and a significant number of the cheapest cartridges might violate OEM patents. While globally OEMs have persistently fought against those who infringed their patents and actively protected their interests in court, Russia’s compatible consumables market remained on the sideline of patent wars for a long time. It’s said the cheapest cartridges are steadily winning tenders of large state and commercial organizations, hence market share declined for both OEMs and Russian recyclers/rechargers.

Business-Inform opined that patent registration in Russian can be construed as a significant first move signaling that OEMs are determined to fight for their IP rights and market share in Russia. Already there have been reports from Russian companies about OEM claims against their products.

As we reported earlier, Canon is the main patent holder in the Russian laser printer market. It has registered a majority of its basic patents covering not only Canon cartridges, but HP’s as well.