A recent lawsuit filed in Santa Clara (CA) Superior Court alleges Hewlett-Packard’s smartchip printer technology disables inkjet cartridges after a certain date and deceives consumers into buying new inkjet cartridges before the ink in the old cartridge has run out.
According to the lawsuit filed by Deborah Tyler of Norcross, Ga., “The smartchip is dually engineered to prematurely register ink depletion and to render a cartridge unusable through the use of a built-in expiration date that is not revealed to the consumer.”
The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed on behalf of consumers who, since February 2001, bought HP inkjet printers that contain a smartchip or other technology that is believed to prematurely register the cartridge to be empty or expired. The models specified in the suit are the HP Deskjet 812C, 804C and 842C, and commercial printers 2000C and 2500C. Tyler seeks restitution, damages and other compensation.
