Supreme Court rules in printer ink case

WASHINGTON --The Supreme Court sided Wednesday with a company that makes printheads and the ink that goes in them, in a decision that may make it harder for competitors to sue over market power.

Justices, in the 8-0 decision, ordered a new round of consideration in lower court in a dispute between Illinois Tool Works Inc. and Independent Ink Inc.

Illinois Tool Works has a patent for its printheads, but not for the ink that goes in them. However, the company requires purchasers to buy the ink.

The company was sued by a maker of ink refills, on grounds that it was illegally trying to dominate the ink market.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/03/01/supreme_court_rules_in_printer_ink_case/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

Not sure exactly what this means...

I guess "bundling" is only illegal if it's software we're talking about...

they said it was okay for Illinois Tool Works to require people to use their ink if they want to use Ilinois Tool Works printers (or printheads if you prefer) unless someone can prove that it isn't anti-competetive for Illinois Tool Works to require this. To me that sounds like so long as a printer manufacturer doesn't dominate the market, they don't have to let other companies make ink refills for their printers.

It does sound like it is being sent back to the lower court.

Justices, in the 8-0 decision, ordered a new round of consideration in lower court in a dispute between Illinois Tool Works Inc. and Independent Ink Inc.

Let them come and stop me...

And yes, sounds like it needs to be re-tried.

Can you do that with Dell cartridges??

Google is your friend!

It isn't illegal to be a monopoly.

and

It isn't illegal to use bundling to tie products together.

but

It is illegal to be a monopoly and use bundling to tie products together.

Independent Ink can go peddle its ink elsewhere. That's how I read the decision.

As opposed to Microsoft, who obviously has market power with Windows, leaving Netscape with no place else to peddle their browser if they can't sell it to a computer company because of pressure from Microsoft.