The Recycler Issue 333

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WORLD FOCUS GLOBAL HP, Counterfeits, IP, Class Action HP responds to class action and reports more counterfeiting action The initial Complaint was filed by Christina Rose on 10 April. The OEM also reported that Between October 2019 and March 2020, it has reportedly seized nearly 200,000 in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. The initial class action complaint was filed by Christina Rose in the United States District Court Northern District of California on 10 April, and alleges that HP fails to disclose that the printers use substantial amounts of coloured ink when printing images and text in black and white (a process known as “underprinting”). HP Inc. has answered the Complaint filed by Christina Rose with a ‘Motion to Dismiss’ the case, alleging that in the original complaint, the Plaintiff has “…failed to plead a duty to disclose, a material omission, or an intent to defraud”, “…failed to plead a claim for any predicate violation of law”, “…failed to plead that she was in privity with Defendant or that the product was unfit for its ordinary use” and “…has not alleged any actionable misrepresentations or omissions”. HP says in its motion, that it did not have a duty to disclose to the Plaintiff the details of the technical process and that “… it complied with that duty by providing detailed information about underprinting on its website and in its online user manuals, which have been available and accessible to any consumer well before Plaintiff purchased her printer.” Therefore, HP concludes in its motion, that “Plaintiff cannot seek injunctive relief because she has always had access to information regarding the underprinting process for HP’s printers and thus cannot plausibly allege she will be injured in the future.” HP said that the Plaintiff ’s complaint should be dismissed with prejudice. Tech Trends KE reported that in raids held since October 2019 and March 2020, HP’s Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) Programme has managed to help seize close to 200,000 counterfeit printer cartridges and components in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. Tech Trends KE said that local authorities managed to disrupt “wholesalers and retailers of fake products through a series of raids carried out in retail outlets, warehouses and manufacturing facilities across the region.” 5,400 counterfeit toner cartridges from twelve retailers have been seized in February 2020 alone. Between October 2019 and March 2020, 185,000 fake items were seized in raids in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and in Nigeria HP seized 7,100 illegal items “in a series of outlet shop raids.” Tech Trends KE reported that one of the searches in Dar es Salaam “was initiated following a Customer Delivery Inspection (CDI)”, a service that HP offers to its large and medium customers, “whereby if a customer suspects that counterfeit products have been included in a shipment of supplies, HP will check the products on site and act accordingly.” There have been over 12 million counterfeits and components seized throughout the EMEA during the past years by local authorities backed by HP Inc and the OEM itself has conducted more than 4,500 “audits and inspections of partners stocks or suspicious deliveries”. HP Inc’s ACF programme is responsible for educating its customers and partners on what to look out for in counterfeit products and works closely with local and worldwide law enforcements to find and destroy illegal operations that produce fake HP Inc printing consumables. ■ 18 Issue 333 August 2020
Search for The Recycler on visit Facebook www.therecycler.com for more news for and all industry the breaking coverage news EUROPE Recolight, EWRN, WEEE, Online Marketplace Amazon, Ebay criticised for WEEE non-compliance The European WEEE Registers Network (EWRN) released a report that strongly condemns online marketplaces, like Amazon, Ebay and Wish etc, for the high level of WEEE non-compliance. The EWRN is an independent network of governmental organisations, such as the EA in England, that maintain official registers of WEEE compliant companies in countries across Europe. The strongly worded report states: “Online platforms are fully aware that most of their customers abroad are noncompliant.” The report also condemns online marketplaces for claiming that WEEE compliance is too complicated for the small companies, noting that “around about 70- 80% of the [WEEE] registered producers…. are SMEs and established in the EU”. Welcoming the report, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said: “It is really encouraging to see the EWRN take such a strong stand against WEEE freeriding through online marketplaces. There is now, more than ever, an urgent need for Defra to tackle the noncompliance of product sold through online marketplaces.” Recolight finds that the situation has been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis. There has been a significant shift from in-store sales to online sales. This means the proportion of WEEE non-compliant product sold in the UK will have increased still further. That puts greater pressure on the entire WEEE system, the WEEE that needs to be recycled is financed by compliant companies representing a shrinking market share, who therefore pay higher costs. Harvey added: “Defra published an ideal solution to the problem in their waste packaging consultation last year. Online marketplaces were to be regarded as the producer of all product for which they facilitate the import into the UK. Implementing that simple measure would, at a stroke, resolve most of the problems. It cannot happen soon enough.” Recolight is the leading UK WEEE compliance scheme for the lighting industry, but is this an issue the aftermarket printing consumables industry should be seriously taking into consideration too? Editor’s Opinion: Its troubling findings cannot help but still raise questions about online cartridge sales, and how many resellers of cartridges are compliant with the WEEE legislation, nearly two years after the WEEE directive was introduced. With the WEEE directive requiring printer cartridges to meet its stringent obligations, producers and online sellers of cartridges may need to closely examine the directive in order to avoid the “strong consequences” of non-compliance. ■ Issue 333 August 2020 19
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The Recycler Issue 333

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