Update:ย
- 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.ย
- Consumers sued the printer company in 2020, alleging it pushed a software update to its printers to make them incompatible with other brandsโ ink cartridges.ย
- 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, โadding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers and rendering the competitorsโ supply cartridges incompatible with HP printers,โ 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 brandsโ 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 brandsโ 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.ย
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, โadding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers, and rendering the competitorsโ supply cartridges incompatible with HP printers,โ 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 โsupply problem,โ when HP had in fact intentionally caused the issue by sending the โmalwareโ to render third-party ink cartridges incompatible with HP products.ย
โPlaintiffs 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,โ the lawsuit states.ย
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 competitorsโ cartridges without their consent.ย
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.ย
The plaintiffs are Mobile Emergency Housing Corp., Performance Automotive & Tire Center and David Justin Lynchโs.
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 โInstant Inkโ subscription are experiencing faulty, error-prone cartridges.ย
Do you own an HP printer that suddenly wouldnโt work with other brandsโ ink cartridges? Let us know your experience in the comments!ย
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
Add to claim. Uses Hp for many years.
not sure if anything ever comes of this but add me to the lawsuit and settlement.
I had a HP printer that only would accept their HP ink cartridges and I got tired of it because theyโre so high so I ended up dumping it and buy me a different printer
add me
I had to buy a couple hp printers due to them not working i would go to Walmart and get the ink and it wouldnโt work had problems if i wasnโt buying the ink from hp subscription it was always a problem. I have been paying for the subscription and paper for some time now years.
Yes!!! We have an HP printer in our office that this has happened to! Infuriates me. I refuse to buy HP ink because of this so it is just sitting there taking up space.
I had the problem of my HP printer not working with other manufacturer ink cartridges.
This happened to me and I had to buy a new printer. Now, I canโt use this printer either due to the updates.
Sooo pissed off at HP, I got the printer bc I do alot of printing fir my job. I didnโt know that the printer wasnโt going to work if you didnโt buy their ink. I didnโt know that my printer would not operate no matter what I tried unless I had their subscription to ink service. They have nulled me fir ink 4 times. I didnโt even need ink but it got sent anyway. So here it sits in the box it arrived in. ALL I WANTED WAS A PRINTER TO PRINT. I HAVE A REFOLL SET FOR INK THAT NOW ALONG WITH THE HP CARTRIDGE JUST SITS HERE AND IM OUT MONEY AND A PRINTER!!! hP never again!!!!
Pleasevads ne. U purchased hp intant ink and I can only use my printer with hp cartridges. When I tried to use my ink cartridges from other manufacturers, it will not work in my hp printer. At that time I had a MN account with hp for instant ink. I no longer have hp instant ink because I kept calling and asking for support because I was unable to print. I was appalled that I ould not use my own ink cartriges that was not hp cartridges. Even after I canceled my hp instant ink and was still not able to print for almost 3 months.