Lexmark Wins Injunction Against Competitor's Printer Toner Cartridges

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Copyright Office Seeks Public Comment on Static Control’s Petition For Digital Copyright Law Exemption

Lexington -- - A federal judge in Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction banning Static Control Components from making printer toner cartridges that interoperate with printers sold by the second largest printer manufacturer in the US, Lexmark, a division of IBM.

In a case brought under the controversial US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) last December, Lexmark claims that its competitor’s lower priced toner cartridges circumvent access controls to the computer chip in the Lexmark printer. Calling them "unauthorized replacement cartridges," Lexmark claims the computer chips on Static Control’s cartridges are circumvention devices, outlawed by the DMCA.

On February 27, 2003, Judge Karl Forester agreed with Lexmark and ordered Static Control Components to stop selling the cartridges with chips that interoperate with Lexmark’s printers pending the outcome of the litigation. "The court has no trouble accepting SCC's claim that public policy generally favors competition," wrote Judge Forester. "The court finds, however, that this general principle only favors legitimate competition. Public policy certainly does not support copyright infringement and violations of the DMCA in the name of competition."

"This case clearly demonstrates how dangerous the DMCA’s overbroad circumvention prohibitions have become to competition and consumer choice in areas that nothing to do with preventing copyright infringement," said Robin Gross, Executive Director of IP Justice, an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property laws.

Gross called the court’s ruling "circular logic." "The court only defines what is 'legitimate competition' as competition that is permitted by the DMCA, without addressing the fundamental problem that the DMCA outlaws legitimate competition," she said. "The court’s broad interpretation of the DMCA would permit Ford to embed a computer chip in automobile tires to legally force consumers to purchase Ford tires," Gross said.

The US Copyright Office is currently seeking public comments on a petition filed by Static Control Components for an exemption to the DMCA in order to permit competition among manufacturers of printer toner cartridges. Members of the public have until March 10, 2003 to file comments on Static Control’s petition via the Copyright Office’s website .

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