Canon Wins a Round in Patent Lawsuit

COSTA MESA —  Canon Inc. won a round in its lawsuit charging Nu-Kote Holding Inc. with infringing on a Canon patent on replacement printer cartridges.

A Washington-based federal appeals court Friday upheld a lower-court decision ordering Dallas-based Nu-Kote to temporarily stop selling cartridges that violate a Canon patent. The three-judge panel rejected Nu-Kote’s arguments that Canon’s patent for the cartridge was invalid.

Although Nu-Kote says it has redesigned the ink cartridges and is no longer selling the cartridges in question, the decision could help Canon in its bid for damages in the case, which now returns to a district judge in Santa Ana for a trial scheduled for later this year.

Canon, based in Tokyo, makes electronic products from computer printers and photo copiers to cameras and video equipment. Its U.S. operations are based in Costa Mesa.