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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1,751 thoughts onHP agrees to settlement in overpriced, incompatible ink cartridge class action
I want to be apart of the class action
Add me I have 2 hp printers.and neither one will work they keep mine unusable almost all t ime.yes we should get a new printer that we can use any ink in.hp has destroyed our printers
Add me
I have the same issue with my HP printer. How do I join this settlement? There is nowhere on this page to join and I got chewed out before by someone from this site telling me, I canโt join by using the comments section, but then I get emails from this site telling me about suits and settlements I can join.
Please add me to this lawsuit
Please add me. I have 2 HP printers that alternate cartridges arenโt compatible with. Very costly!
I had an hp printer I was forced to buy through the internet. I switched printers and they continuously charged after I canceled. And I only bought the ink over the internet because I had to register over the internet and could only get my ink over the internet. When I bought ink at the store it never worked on my hp printer
It was a big headache. So i switched to another brand
Same here
This has happened to me several times. I have had to return several different brands of cartridges and have been forced to buy overpriced HP cartridges. No way around the error code message. Please add me to the lawsuit.
Purchased a HP printer and have received multiple threats of HP would printing if conditions are not made. Also, been wanting to outright purchase the printer, but they wonโt allow that. Stuck to pay $15 a month for the next year or two. Attempted, but to no avail. Couun me in. Mr. Cano
HP Peunters were always the best UNTIL they started playing games with consumers by making affordable ink solutions non compatible with their printers. Criminal.
GE does this with their refrigerator water filters. Someone should look into their unfair practices
I never tried different ink k cartridges because I thought you could only use HP brand cartridges!