Lexmark Z65 Cartridges

Kentucky.com reports that a seven year court battle between Lexmark and a North Carolina-based company that makes compatible ink cartridges has reached its final ruling. In December 2002, Lexmark sued Static Control Components for infringing on a computer program contained in its ink cartridges that made the printer inoperable, if it were found to be operating through ink cartridges refilled by companies other than Lexmark itself. Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ruled that SCC’s circumvention of Lexmark’s code does not violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, meaning that SSC may continue its activities.

Lexmark's Ink Cartridge Program

The case originated in part because of the Lexmark Return Program: an initiative where consumers who sent their emptied cartridges back to Lexmark, instead of third-party businesses, received a substantial discount on future purchases. Supplementing this arrangement with consumers, Lexmark included in their ink cartridges a program that made printers inoperable, if the ink cartridge refill occurred outside Lexmark’s premises. Though ostensibly meant to decrease the massive quantities of plastic sent to waste through empty ink cartridges, the program in fact undercut the remanufacturing industry, which depends on empty cartridges.