Canon : announces conclusion of U.S. lawsuit against General Plastic and Color Imaging

TOKYO, October 3, 2018-Canon Inc. today announced the conclusion of a patent infringement lawsuit against General Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd. and Color Imaging, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, based upon those defendants' sales of toner bottles for use in certain Canon imageRUNNER office multifunction devices.

A jury trial was held in June of 2017, which concluded with the jury finding that both of the defendants willfully infringed Canon's U.S. Patent No. 7,647,012. After the trial, the Northern District of Georgia court issued orders permanently enjoining the defendants from selling the products found to infringe and enhancing the jury's damages award due to the defendants' willful infringement.

To resolve what remained of the lawsuit, General Plastic agreed to pay Canon an undisclosed amount, and both defendants stipulated to a Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction from the Northern District of Georgia, prohibiting them from making, using, selling and offering for sale in the United States, and from importing into the United States, the toner bottles that were found to infringe Canon's patent. Both defendants also agreed not to infringe any patent in the subject patent family.

Throughout the development, sales and marketing process, Canon respects the intellectual property of other companies and individuals and expects others to similarly respect Canon's intellectual property rights. Canon remains committed to pursuing legal enforcement against those who do not respect Canon's intellectual property.