Ricoh Sued for Patent Infringement by Troll

Ricoh Sued for Patent Infringement

A patent troll based in Delaware called the Midwest Athletics and Sports Alliance LLC (“MASA”) filed a complaint over patent infringement against Ricoh.

The company alleged that certain Ricoh office equipment such as Pro C5300S/5310S, Pro 8300S/8310/8310S/8320/8320S, Pro C7200/ C7200S/C7200E/C7200X/C7210/C7210S /C7210X/C7210SX, and Pro C9200/C9210 infringed its ‘285 Patent, ‘582 Patent, and ‘425 Patent.

‘282 Patent

MASA’s ‘285 patent provides an operator alert that a printer component needs to be replaced based on a comparison of the current usage state of the component to the expected life span of the component. For example, a toner cartridge using ‘285 technology may be assigned an LED indicator that indicates a toner cartridge’s expected life span. The LED indicator is triggered based on the comparison mechanism that compares use of the toner cartridge to the expected life span of the toner cartridge. In another example, the ‘285 technology may also display service codes or messages listed on the printer’s control panel display when the toner cartridge is nearing the end of its expected life span.

‘425 Patent

MASA’s U.S. Patent No. 7,720,425 (‘425) is similar to the ‘582 patent, and involves a tandem color printer apparatus having five or more color printing stations, and applying a clear toner overcoat.

‘582 Patent

MASA’s U.S. Patent No. 7,502,582 (‘582) involves technology for a tandem color printer apparatus having five or more color printing stations for applying color toner to form a color image in a single pass.

The technology involves printing colored images with improved color gamut and enhanced gloss, using five or more different color pigments to form images; depositing a clear toner overcoat on the image to improve image quality; and subjecting the clear toner overcoat and the image to a gloss-enhancing process.

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