Hewlett-Packard has accused a number of Asian companies of patent infringement of its inkjet cartridges and, in some cases, included HP components stolen from trucks or manufacturing and assembly plants in Singapore and Malaysia.
In a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, HP said the companies sold the cartridges on Amazon and Craigslist. HP said it manufactures a key component of its ink cartridges in Singapore and ships them to a contract assembly plant in Malaysia. HP said it tightened security at both sites after components were stolen in 2006 and 2007. A few months later, the lawsuit says, thieves began hijacking trucks that carried the parts.
Some of those components later turned up in ink cartridges that HP employees purchased online, according to the lawsuit, which said the stolen components were identified through proprietary markings.
The lawsuit alleges that MicroJet Technology of Taiwan and PTC Holdings of Hong Kong sold cartridges that mimicked HP's patented designs. It accuses another Hong Kong firm, Mipo Technology, of selling cartridges that used HP designs and also contained stolen components.