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
Same problem on two HP Envy 7855 printers. I have 5 new non HP ink cartridges that I cannot use.
Please add me to this class action. I have used HP printers for years and have always used both HP and other manufacturers ink cartridges. Our work has been severely hindered since HP updated the printers firmware and denies the use of our ink cartridges that we purchased in bulk and have a stockpile of ink that is now unusable, becuase supposedly the chip is incompatible? This is not acceptable.
I have a inkjet pro 6970 with extra ink cartridges after market the printer work fine with aftermarket ink cartridges for the first few months then they added the firmware and then the aftermarket cartridges would not work because it detected an HP non-HP chip detection on the LCD window which rendered the printer non-functional unless I used HP original inkjet cartridges My name is Keithpierce add me to the list for the class action lawsuit against HP corporation
Please add my name to the list for the HP Class Action. My printer too threw an error code for chip error that was working fine previously. Now I am stuck with a bunch of ink that I cannot use and was forced to go spend money on the HP Ink that is not even worth the money as their ink cartridges do not last and is a complete rip off to the consumers. We as consumers should not be forced to buy HP ink only. We should have the choice to shop in a competitive market. UNHAPPY CUSTOMER!
Add me to this case. They are forcing us to spend over $300 on HALF-FULL CARTRIDGES (or nearly $400 for full “high yield” cartridges) when the same can be had for 20% that cost from a third party. This was not the case when I purchased the printer in 2020, and their secret and irreversible firmware update has now boxed me into paying their extortionate ransom to use the device I already paid for. This is unconscionable and mind boggling.
How do you become part of this lawsuit? I am having so many issues with my HP 4500 once I used a non HP Printer ink.
Was on the phone with HP support today. Third party ink is being blocked whereas they use to work fine… Representative said the only solution is to purchase genuine HP ink… HP doesn’t care about their customers so I will never purchase another HP product.
I have an HP OfficeJet Pro 8030 and was using the Instant Ink subscription. I canceled and used regular, purchased ink, at which point the printer started printing in black and yellow only. I re-subscribed, threw out 90 dollars worth of ink, and engaged with HP for further troubleshooting.
They told me the printheads had gone bad (seems a convenient coincidence this happened the moment I stopped my subscription) and tried very hard to immediately sell me a new printer.
I passed, telling the agent that I found online that only HP printers have an expiration on their printheads of two years or less.
I informed her that the HP Community page had a published solution from an HP agent stating that the issue is related to recently updated firmware and that they need to reset the printer to factory settings, but that this is done on a customer by customer basis via a link emailed to the customer in question.
The agent said she was unable to do this because the error message displaying on my printer would prevent the action, and again tried to get me to order a new printer through her.
I declined again, at which point the agent ended the call and I later found that rebooting the computer myself removed the error message.
It seems clear there could be a path to getting this printer to continue working via the firmware reset/uninstallation, but HP is simply re-routing these issues into a new sales pipeline instead.
Either that…or this was just highly convenient timing for a printer breakdown.
For the moment, I am shopping other manufacturers and avoiding HP for the future.
Please add me to this. I have numerous third party cartridges that I purchased as compatible with HP and now, due to HP firmware I cannot use them. Even with authenticity turned off on my printer settings it still will not allow me to change the cartridges.
Dear HP:
I. Hate. You.
Sincerely,
Disgruntled ex-Customer