Patent-infringing clones are seized by EU customs, while legal compatible and remanufactured cartridges circulate freely.
When we read about cartridge seizures at Europe’s borders, it is easy to treat every non-OEM product as suspect. In practice, customs stop so-called “clones”: newly built cartridges, usually imported, that copy an OEM’s patented design or components without a licence.
ETIRA, the European Toner & Inkjet Remanufacturers Association, has documented such cases for years. At the Paperworld trade fairs customs officials removed cartridges that infringed OEM patents, and in a warehouse raid in Germany workers fitting OEM labels onto non-OEM cartridges ended up in jail. Since 2012 HP, Samsung and other manufacturers have taken legal action across Europe against resellers and distributors of such products.
The legal distinction
A patent-respecting compatible cartridge is designed to work with the printer without copying protected inventions. A remanufactured cartridge starts from an empty OEM shell, which is cleaned and inspected, has worn parts replaced and is refilled to specification. Both move lawfully through the single market.
ETIRA’s Code of Conduct commits its members to respect intellectual property and trademarks and to fight clones. It even allows expelling a member who sells them or passes them off as remanufactured. At the border, the test is whether a product respects the patent or copies it.
How Ergonet works
We are an authorised reseller of Brother, OKI, Canon, Ricoh, Kyocera and HP, and we supply compatible and remanufactured consumables. We choose on quality, legal compliance and price, and we do not sell patent-infringing clones.
A business can therefore choose between OEM consumables and legitimate alternatives without the risk of its shipment being stopped. If you are unsure about a cartridge, ask your supplier what customs checks: whether it respects the patent or copies it.
Source: ETIRA