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.
Donโt Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
1,748 thoughts onHP agrees to settlement in overpriced, incompatible ink cartridge class action
How do I sign up for this class action law suit. My printer was transformed into a brick overnight with HPโs update that I never consented to.
I now cannot use cartridges that have been in my printer for months. Now I know why. This is some BS. I should be able to use the cartridges of my choice!
Sign me up. No one told me about an HP class action but I just knew there had to be one and googled it. They are the worst. I think we should all take our pieces of s**t printers and throw them through HPโs corporate windows. Never have I had a worse experience with a printer. If the ink fraud problem did not exist, I still hate it for so many other reasons.
Late last night, January 5th, 2022, I heard a strange noise in the other room. Not sure what was going on, I went carefully into the other room and discovered that my HP printer was doing something. The display window had something printed in there and I read that there had been a firmware update and that my cartridges basically did not have legitimate HP chips in them and could not be used. However, Iโve been using them for years and even earlier that night. I was, as other people and businesses, unable to print from that moment on. I have been a lifelong HP printer customer since the 1980โs. I also know that years ago, Lexmark shot themselves in the foot when they basically did a very similar thing. It was illegal. The devastating problems inflicted on all of its thousands of customers, shutting us down without any care about what it would do to all of us, has caused their true colors to be shown. They did not care one iota what this would do to their own customers. My husband and I want to be a part of this lawsuit.
Same thing here! Just happened today after my printer automatically updated. Despite cartridge protection being disabled, I still canโt use my non-hp cartridges. This is messed up.
I have used 3rd party ink cartridges for years on my old HP Officejet Pro L7590 with no problems at all. Now getting extortion-like messages that I have to replace cartridges with HP or no service will be provided, etc. This strikes me as an illegal tying arrangement.
Yup โ used Costco to refill several ink cartridges. Today (1/3/2022) my printer just stopped working altogether and all ink cartridges showed as empty (weird that all 4 show as empty). I grabbed a complete set that had been refilled by Costco about 6 months ago and after installing them got a prompt that โthese are incompatible cartridgesโ and the printer will not work.
Add myself as well. I own an HP MFP M281fdw and having the same error message issue. Iโve been searching through forums for resolutions. I tried to revert the firmware to a previous version before the issues occurred, along with changes in settings as mentioned in other posts. Iโve had this printer for several years without issues and started in December โ21.
I have the MFP 281 CDW and my firmware pushed over Christmas. I can no longer use the printer unless HP toner is installed. I am retired and on a fixed income. The difference in cost between HP and 3rd party toner is significant. I feel like I have a very expensive paperweight. I am only a couple moths out of warranty so without a fee I can not even talk with them or so it feels. I have been bounced all over trying to connect with them to roll back the firmware. If you need another person to join this lawsuit I am in.
My HP MFP M281CDW automatically got the update over Christmas. I did find a way to downgrade my firmware back to a June 12 2020 version by searching online but I felt violated. HP, your customers bought the hardware, it means ownership passed to the customer. Sending an automatic bogus update 4 years after the purchase date that suddenly bricks it is sheer vandalism. You have lost a life-long customer (Iโve bought over a dozen HP printers over the years). Please sign me up for this class-action suit.
Our printer went out as well from this firmware update. I have tried to fix it but no luck. Having to buy genuine cartridges from HP if we want our printer to work.