Update:
- In a joint notice filed July 12 in a California federal court, HP and a certified class of consumers reached a settlement in principle and are working to finalize the agreement.
- Consumers sued the printer company in 2020, alleging it pushed a software update to its printers to make them incompatible with other brands’ ink cartridges.
- They allege HP transmitted firmware updates without authorization to HP printers through the internet, with the first update pushed around Nov. 2020. These firmware updates reportedly act as malware, “adding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers and rendering the competitors’ supply cartridges incompatible with HP printers,” the plaintiffs claim.
HP ink cartridge class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: HP Inc. is being sued by customers.
- Why: The customers allege HP pushed a firmware update that made its printers incompatible with other brands’ ink cartridges.
- Where: Nationwide
(Oct. 16, 2021)
A class action lawsuit alleging HP pushed a software update to its printers to make them incompatible with other brands’ ink cartridges can mostly go ahead, a judge has ruled.
A California federal judge ruled Oct. 15 that most of the class action allegations filed by printer owners against HP, Inc. could go ahead, throwing out only three of the claims.
The claims against HP were first filed in Dec. 2020. The plaintiffs allege that HP transmitted firmware updates without authorization to HP printers through the Internet, with the first update pushed around Nov. 2020.
These firmware updates allegedly act as malware, “adding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers, and rendering the competitors’ supply cartridges incompatible with HP printers,” the plaintiffs said.
HP forced customers to purchase HP ink cartridges, class action alleges
The class action lawsuit said the company told them that HP printers have a “supply problem,” when HP had in fact intentionally caused the issue by sending the “malware” to render third-party ink cartridges incompatible with HP products.
“Plaintiffs allege that as a result of this malware, HP printer owners are either forced to buy HP cartridges or they cannot use their printers until third parties can develop workarounds in their products,” the lawsuit states.
They also allege HP used this firmware update process to conceal the fact it is actually collecting data on whether consumers are using HP or its competitors’ cartridges without their consent.
The lawsuit is looking to represent anyone nationwide who had a HP Color LaserJet Pro M254, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M280, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281, or any other model affected by HP malware transmissions.
The plaintiffs are Mobile Emergency Housing Corp., Performance Automotive & Tire Center and David Justin Lynch’s.
The plaintiffs are suing under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA), California False Advertising Law, California Unfair Competition Law and California Consumers Legal Remedies Act.
The order filed Oct. 15 allowed most of the claims to go ahead, apart from allegations regarding one section of CFAA, trespass to chattels and one claim based on one part of CDAFA.
The news comes as HP faces another class action lawsuit, with a consumer alleging that he and others with an HP “Instant Ink” subscription are experiencing faulty, error-prone cartridges.
Do you own an HP printer that suddenly wouldn’t work with other brands’ ink cartridges? Let us know your experience in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Mark L. Javitch of Javitch Law Office and Thomas A. Zimmerman Jr. of Zimmerman Law Offices PC.
The HP Software Update Ink Cartridge Class Action Lawsuit is Mobile Emergency Housing Corp. et al. v. HP Inc., Case No. 5:20-cv-09157, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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1,748 thoughts onHP agrees to settlement in overpriced, incompatible ink cartridge class action
Please add me.
Please add me. I’ve had problems with hp cartridges. I have a 3 & 1 hp printer
We’ve had a HP printer for years. Totally agree, ink cartridges are the reason we replaced our printer, finally!
I tried different manufacturers ink cartridges for my hp printer would not work forced to buy hp ink
please add me. i have always had the 3 in 1 printer
Yes add me. I have bought several ink cartridges that did not work on my HP. Very frustrating . The HP cartridge s are super expensive
please add me…I haver been in problems with mine that I purchased in 2002
I bought one cartridges and they wouldn’t work with my HP printer even if they were completely compatible
Add me
Officejet Pro 3 in 1 all in one HP Printer. Uses 950XL Black/951 Color, when you put in another brand ink it says use HP Ink only, not compatible with HP printer. The HP Ink costs $130.00 versus a different brand for $65.00, HP makes it so you can only use their expensive ink with their software
Please add me. I had an hp small in one that refused to function after owning it for about 6 months if I did not use Brand new hp cartridges to replace empty cartridges. And of course hp raised their cartridge price dramatically.
I bought Meijer print cartridges for my HP which said on the box they were HP compatible. The full set of cartridges cost me almost 90.00 with tax and when purchased were not on sale or on clearance.
Upon installation the HP rejected the cartridge giving me a message that II must use HP cartridges on their HP printer. Upon returning the unused cartridges back to Meijer the store only gave me $8.00 for the 90.00 purchase. Meijer said I should have returned them earlier and would only receive the “clearance” price, not what I had purchased them for. Meijer rejected my argument that the Meijer box it was compatible with HP printers and refused to acknowledge that was a problem. I not only blame HP, but I blame Meijer for knowing their cartridges were not compatible but still cheated me as a customer by suddenly marking the cartridges on clearance and then blaming me for not returning them earlier. Scammed by both companies.