Lexmark International has reached settlements with nearly half the number of companies it originally sued over alleged patent violations.
Cases were filed in August against a total of 24 companies with the U.S. International Trade Commision as well as a federal court in Ohio, for infringing Lexmark's patents concerning manufacture, import and sale of replacement toner cartridges for their laser printers.
The full terms of the settlements reached with 10 of the 24 companies weren't disclosed nor were the statuses of the remaining suits.
Manufacturers have been aggresive in following up alleged patent violations, with Epson leading the way, to discourage potential competitors in the cartridge market and protect lucrative sales.
The companies involved in the settlement are Alpha Image Tech, E-Toner Mart Inc, Nano Pacific Corp, Ninestar Image Co, Ninestar Image International Ltd, Ninestar Technology Co, Print-Rite Holdings Ltd, Seine Image International Co, Union Technology International (M.C.O.) Co and Ziprint Image Corp. and interestingly, despite the cases being brought about in the U.S. some of the companies involved are based in China.
Lexmark has said in a statement regarding the matter "While the Settling Parties did not admit any wrongdoing, they have confirmed their ongoing commitment to respect intellectual property rights by resolving the litigation amicably".
The companies have agreed as part of the settlement to a permanent injuntion and not to oppose Lexmark's ongoing efforts for the International Trade Commision to ban future imports of infringing cartridges.
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