Inkjet & Digital Printing

Ricoh and Xerox File Action with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office To Combat Patent-Licensing Demands Against Their Customers

Friday 24. May 2013 - Ricoh Americas Corporation and Xerox Corporation today filed a Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 7,786,426 ("the '426 patent") at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). The '426 patent has become the subject of an aggressive patent licensing campaign by various affiliates of MPHJ Technology Investments who are targeting users of the products of virtually every manufacturer of multi-function imaging equipment, including Ricoh and Xerox.

The campaign by MPHJ’s affiliates, which has focused primarily on small and medium-sized businesses, asserts that the use of multi-function printers in combination with email or network software infringes MPHJ’s ‘426 patent and demands a license fee be paid for such use. As part of the Inter Partes Review Petition, Ricoh and Xerox are seeking a ruling from the USPTO that the claims of the ‘426 patent are unpatentable and were fully anticipated by various prior art references.
In a joint statement the companies said, “Ricoh and Xerox believe that the ‘426 patent is invalid, the infringement claims are without merit and the licensing demands of MPHJ are unsupportable. Today’s filing demonstrates both Ricoh and Xerox’s strong commitment to their customers and authorized dealer networks. If successful, our action will both nullify the ‘426 patent and help disable MPHJ’s licensing campaign against our customers. We are confident this is the right action to take to support our customers.”
Ricoh and Xerox will continue to monitor MPHJ’s licensing efforts and will update their customers and authorized dealer networks with any further developments regarding the USPTO’s Review.