Ricoh Files U.S. Patent Infringement Suit Against Oki Data

Details are still sketchy and this sort of thing usually takes place thousands of feet above most of us.

But it is about MFP's. We will be watching this one.

Ricoh Company, Ltd. (Shiro Kondo, President and CEO. Hereafter "Ricoh"), Ricoh Americas Corporation, Ricoh's managing sales company in the United States (Kazuo Togashi, CEO. Hereafter "RAC"), and Ricoh Electronics, Inc., Ricoh's manufacturing company in the United States (Yoshinori Yamashita, President) filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission on September 18, 2009 (U.S. EST) against Oki Data Corporation (hereafter "Oki Data") and Oki Data Americas, Inc. (Oki Data's United States subsidiary) for violation of Section 337 of the United States Tariff Act of 1930.

Among other things, Ricoh seeks an exclusion order from the ITC barring Oki Data's importation of Oki Data products that practice certain United States patents owned by Ricoh. Further, on the same day, Ricoh and RAC filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (State of Delaware) against Oki Data and Oki Data Americas, Inc. for infringement of other United States patents owned by Ricoh. Together, the lawsuits concern eight United States patents that cover products including digital multifunction printers (MFP) and printers.

Since April of 2006, Ricoh and Oki Data have been negotiating for the renewal of a patent license agreement between the two companies. Because the companies have been unable to reach an agreement, Ricoh is taking necessary action to protect its intellectual property against unauthorized use. Ricoh respects the intellectual property rights of others, and expects the same treatment in return.

A "Pyramid Scheme" in Copiers - The Struggles of Governor French Academy Continue

This story has legs - four of them.

We first brought you this account last month. The same, familiar routine, "shady" copier dealer churns customers, flexing buyouts into upgrades, never returns equipment to leasing company. Lease company continues to bill, receives no payments, sends letter, customer is shocked to learn they are still on the hook for the original lease.

This is excessive - there are around 7 leasing companies involved, possibly an eighth, and they all want this school to pay up. The school owes about 50 million clicks worth of Francs.

Nasty business, this.

And yet, so delicious...

When I first started on my DOTC, writing journey I would review my Google Analytics daily.

Checking how many hits came in and from where - I could tell my parents looked once, a few hits from my sister, some acquaintances etc. And after things "blew up" I would occasionally check the popularity of particular articles.

Those days have long since past - I rarely look at the stats - until last week.

A quick perusal of the most popular articles revealed an interesting point - views of lease related articles tripled over the last 60 days. Tripled.

I credit this spike to:

1. More interest in leasing because more people are making decisions to get new copiers
2. More people are looking for ways to get out of their existing lease

And unfortunately, this type of action makes our jobs that more difficult.

Escalation -

Now, the Illinois Attorney General's is involved. They announced an investigation, and the local gendarmes, already on the case, are cooperating with federal authorities.

Officials at Governor French Academy say the school owes at least $500,000 after leasing copiers from Kevin Welch of Okawville, in what they now call a complicated Ponzi scheme.

Thus far, no criminal charges have been filed.

So, copiers are at the heart of this intrigue - greed, schemes, local non-profit, and federal investigations.

Keep an eye out for a little sex, some drugs, gambling and hookers in this escapade.

Quel dommage!

12 Things I Hate About Managed Print Services

12. How some I.T. people think "printers" are below their intellectual standards.

11. How some purchasing agents think of MPS Providers as a cell on the Big Spreadsheet.

10. The dealership/VAR owners who don't allow MPS Sales Professionals access to the company's existing customers.

9. Manufacturers who still think MPS is CPC.

8. Bad copier salespeople.

7. How some in the industry focus more on themselves than the customer.

6. Lease agreements.

5. Newbies who don't think they are Newbies.

4. "Experts" who haven't been in the field for over a decade.

3. MPS training text that has been generated through the simple Search and Replaced function; "MPS" for "copier".

2. MPS Practices that are better than mine.

And the Number One thing I Hate About Managed Print Services -

1. The word "Print" in Managed Print Services.

9/2009