What’s Next after Aster’s Global Settlement?

After eight months’ struggling, Aster Graphics (Aster) declared it and Canon have reached a global settlement in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the District Court of The Hague, the Netherlands and the Paris First Instance Court regarding Aster’s alleged infringement of Canon’s patents. Plus, the two parties have agreed on a stipulation to resolve their pending dispute in the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) investigation.

According to Aster, under the settlement agreement, it and its customers can avoid “any legal liability for the sold products in the past. The signing of the agreements does not constitute an admission of liability or infringement by Aster.”

In the end of the announcement, Aster stated it “always respects other parties’ intellectual properties and has been investing heavily into its own innovation and technology. Aster has been awarded plenty of patents worldwide, and will continue supplying its customers with its IP-compliant products to benefit and protect its customers.”

In April of 2014, Canon sued Aster in the District Court at The Hague in the Netherlands for infringing its European patent number 2,087,407 by importing and selling  certain toner cartridges for Hewlett-Packard’s laser beam printers.

As reported by Recycling Times, Canon has filed at least three complaints defending its European patent number 2,087,407 in 2014. Followed the first complaint against Aster, another aftermarket company Seine (Holland) B.V. was sued in Netherlands. In December 2014, a complaint was filed before the District Court of Düsseldorf in Germany, against  “ARMOR SA” , “ARTECH GmbH” , the “Pelikan Vertriebsgesellschaft mbh & Co. KG” and other Pelikan companies. Among the defendants, so far only Aster settled with Canon.

Excluding Netherlands and Germany, there are other 30 designated states covered by this European patent number 2,087,407. On January 15, 2015, the famous patent attorneys, Edward O’Connor and Dr. Katja Dauster, will share their insights on this case at the RT Imaging Summit Europe in Spain.

For More Information:
RT Imaging Summit Europe