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
I only use my printer once a week coping only 25 sheets and it stop working with an error stating there was an ink issue. The ink was new and when I called no one was able to help me. Now it is still unused, and I had to purchase another printer to complete my work.
Once you agree to โinstant inkโ, your device is then controlled by HP. It will not let me print at all, nor will it connect the printer to the wifi if my $1.99 is late. Always on there part!
Please add me, suppose to get freevinsta ink for 6 months and only rec 1 month!!!!
Add me please
I threw away my HP printer when it did this to me because I thought it was broken! Wow. What a ripoff!
I had used Comp n Save cartridges successfully twice, then nothing couldnโt get them to work. I caved in and Pais over $120 for HP cartridges and they wonโt work either! Iโm beyond frustrated with HP. I bought another brand and type printer.
Yeah itโs very expensive to the point I only turn my printer on when I really need it but they still will charge me for the delivery of ink and the per page fee to print
My HP printer suddenly refused to do any task saying I must contact HP to fix, but that didnโt happen. The printer sits unused, when it worked perfectly fine. They claimed the ink was wrong, but I said it worked well from day 1, it just wasnโt HP ink.
An HP laptop I bought caused my HP printer to stop working until I bought specific HP cartridges. I did so, but was so angry we red by the manipulation that I took the computer back and got an HP Chromebook. The HP printer STILL will not work. Very irritating and abusive behavior on HPโs part. It has changed my opinion of them from positive to negative. Talk about overreach and greed!
Add me.