How Big Printer Is Trying to Crush the Counterfeit Ink Trade [HP-Epson-Canon]

he team moves through a dark, narrow hallway, emerging into a room crammed with an odd sort of contraband: toner and ink cartridges stacked almost to the ceiling. Authorities question a woman who deflects at first before finally admitting that all of them are counterfeits.

The video, shot in India and shared with me by Hewlett-Packard (HP Inc), illustrates the raids local authorities have conducted hundreds of times around the world to try and stem the flow of counterfeit ink and toner cartridges. It’s reminiscent of a drug bust, and the economic stakes are nearly as high.

According to the Imaging Supplies Coalition (ISC), an organization representing the business interests of companies like HP, Epson, and Canon, counterfeit printer consumables cost the industry $3 billion a year. Given how much an official ink replacement costs, you probably think the industry can afford the loss.

But as Consumer Reports pointed out last year, there are a couple reasons these companies charge as much as they do for your ink. The first is the most obvious: You’re paying off your printer when you buy ink. The cost of printers is low because, in the long run, printer manufacturers make more on ink. But in the short term, these companies have to pay for the cost of components, as well as developing and building the printer to begin with. In addition, the ink and toner cartridges are more than just containers—they’re complex (read: expensive) pieces of technology.

HP and the ISC wouldn’t comment on consumer frustration with the high cost of ink, but they both acknowledge that people naturally look online for the best ink prices they can find. These knockoff deals supposedly lead to HP fielding customer complaints, even though HP didn’t sell them the bogus printer supplies.

“When you have a brand that carries this amount of customer recognition and trust, there’s always somebody trying to capitalize on that brand trust,” says Eduardo Macias, director of brand protection at Hewlett-Packard.

HP, though, is not alone in its efforts to stamp out counterfeit supplies. Epson also works with local authorities around the world to support anti-counterfeiting raids. The Buyers

Counterfeit printing supplies predate modern inkjet and laser printer technology. In 1994, the printer industry founded the ISC. Back in those days, ISC president Allen D. Westerfield tells me, the industry was dealing with counterfeit ribbons, dot matrix printer supplies, and typewriter wheels. Ribbons were literally being reinked and repackaged by counterfeiters. As the print industry shifted to inkjet and laser printers, the counterfeit consumables market shifted to toner and ink cartridges.

Then came the internet and e-commerce, which catalyzed an explosion of counterfeit goods. The trade is large and profitable, there’s a ready supply of spent cartridges to refill and resell, and there’s the obvious value proposition to consumers looking for the best prices. “The internet and e-commerce made it easier,” Westerfield says.

Search results for ink or toner cartridges in Amazon, Google, and eBay are a mix of legitimate and counterfeit supplies, though there’s virtually no way for you to tell the difference until you get the cartridge in your hands or put it in your printer.

Hewlett-Packard executives told me that for small businesses buying in bulk, counterfeit products are sorted into 90% of deliveries.

HP has for some time used hard-to-duplicate holographic labels on its cartridges, and its printers can detect counterfeit cartridges and advise users to remove them before they start printing.

Still, it might be hard to overcome that satisfaction of simply paying less for your consumables, especially if you’re a business that buys toner and ink cartridges in bulk. In those instances, counterfeit might even be mixed in with legitimate supplies. HP executives told me that for small businesses buying in bulk, counterfeit products are sorted into 90% of deliveries.

For consumers, the best way to avoid counterfeit consumables might be going analog and buying supplies at your local brick-and-mortar store. Experts told me it’s highly unlikely they’ll encounter counterfeit ink at, say, their local Staples. Unprintable Crimes

Inside counterfeit ink and toner supplies is, surprisingly, real ink and toner. However, the ink is sometimes mixed with water, and the quality of the toner is unlikely match what you’ll find from legit suppliers. HP told me that these supplies generally don’t last as long as genuine products, and they can’t be guaranteed for things like water resistance and colorfastness in normal daylight conditions. In addition, using unauthorized consumables can void your printer warranty.

There are also environmental concerns. “One of the challenges for end users… is that you have no idea what chemical components, what plastic, what electronics have been used in the making of these cartridges,” says Hewlett-Packard’s Macias, who adds that the company has seized some counterfeit supplies that use materials banned in Europe.

Even if you dismiss the environmental concerns and print quality (how much do offices that print thousands of pages per month care about colorfastness?), the counterfeit ink trade is not, according to HP, a victimless crime.

There is “the misinformation on consumer side: ‘I’m buying a knockoff product, saving a little money, what harm am I doing?’” Macias says. But the reality is that those dealing in counterfeit goods, even those as mundane as printer consumables, are often involved in other illegal activities.

Last year, Hewlett-Packard was involved in 500 separate raids, in which they confiscated 170 million counterfeit toner products and components.

The organizations behind counterfeit ink and toner cartridges are, Macias claims, “big organized crime organizations.” Unlike, say, the drug trade, counterfeit consumables can, from the outside, look just like a legitimate business. Macias tells me that some of the storefronts selling these supplies in the tech malls of India have no idea they’re selling illegal goods. But that low-profile, high-traffic business can fund other, more dire crimes.

“No rational consumer would choose to support organizations that endorse human trafficking, arms trafficking,” Macias s.

Authorities don’t typically raid these storefronts. Instead, HP, Epson, and other printer manufacturers work with local authorities to identify the original source. That involves a lot of time, patience, and surveillance. Local law enforcement will usually conduct the raid, while some of, say, HP’s regional investigation managers will tag along to identify the counterfeits and, later, testify about what they discovered. Last year, HP was involved in 500 separate raids, in which they confiscated 170 million counterfeit toner products and components.

Identifying counterfeits isn’t always easy, especially if counterfeiters are using original manufacturer’s cartridges. Sometimes, however, the counterfeiters make it easier by trying to do more. During a recent raid in Egypt, investigators found counterfeiters manufacturing their own knockoff packaging, which is easy for investigators to identify. Beating the Knockoffs

Stemming the flow of fake products is a multipronged effort. In addition to on-the-ground enforcement, Westerfield says the industry needs more control over products on the internet. HP works closely with Amazon to try and head off counterfeit results. But Westerfield told me the industry has to do “a better job of educating the consumer and user about what problems are caused by counterfeit products.”

The industry may get some help from the U.S. government. In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing government agencies to investigate how counterfeit and pirated goods end up in the United States. “If you’ve seen the latest Trump executive directive, he has asked several agencies to look into problem that inappropriate marketing has caused to us economically… [H]e’s basically talking about counterfeiting,” Westerfield says.

The executive order tangentially addresses another growing threat to the ink and toner industry: third-party inks that abuse original patents to build what are essentially duplicates. Unlike counterfeits, these cartridges are marketed under the companies’ own brand names.

For now, the plan is to continue working with agencies around the world to stem the flow of counterfeit consumables, improve their own technology to make it harder to create and sell fake consumables, and educate consumers and businesses on the downsides of using counterfeit ink and toner cartridges.

“When you take that multipronged approach, I do feel like we’re winning,” Macias says.

Perhaps, but back in India, ink and toner counterfeiters are posting bail and, two months later, returning to their fake ink businesses.

If the ‘counterfeiters’ would just call their merchandise ‘compatible’ and not use the other companies’ logos, but used their own, would they be legal?...............

When our college went to Windows 10 our desktop HP laserjets were working great, but they were not compatible Windows 10 despite our IT departments best efforts to find a working driver. I contacted HP was told we will not be issuing a driver for Windows 10 you need to go buy another HP printer that is compatible. I said I will certainly upgrade but not with an HP. We have Dell printers that have been going strong on generic carts. for years.

My son and his wife are buying a new desktop and she has an HP injet that is constantly wanting ink carts or won’t work because it drys up. I told my son when you buy the desktop pay the extra and get a laserjet and not an HP, it’s worth it in the long run. HP can stick it!

“If the ‘counterfeiters’ would just call their merchandise ‘compatible’ and not use the other companies’ logos, but used their own, would they be legal?”

By default, yes.

They cannot duplicate the ink cartridges or other components that are protected by a patent. Sometimes this may even be a design patent, which is inexpensive and might deter competition.

Design patents are easy to circumvent legally, but may deter companies that are afraid of legal costs if they are sued and must defend their designs.

A lot of times big corporations game the system when it comes to intellectual property.

Of course, this fake stuff also infringes on trademarks and is defrauding consumers as well as.

I have an HP printer and normally get ink at Office Depot/Office Max- then a re-ink store started up. You bring your empty ink cartridge and then give you one that has been refilled with ink that fits your printer.

I got home and printer rejected it and said not an HP ink cartridge. Arrrgh returned and went to Office Max.

I use a Canon printer...had a Lexmark printer but can't get the ink...also had a Kodak printer, ink been discontinued...

I want to buy an Alps...to print decals...

Still running an HP LaserJet 4 which is maxed out in RAM (32Mb). For what I need to print, it does the job just fine. If I want to print pictures, its so much easier and economical to go get them printed at the drug store or wallyworld plus they are printed on photo paper (which isn’t that cheap to begin with.)

I had a HP wireless printer that would not accept non-HP ink. Couldn’t even refill the HP cartridge. So I trashed it and bought a Canon which is happy with 3rd party ink.

The argument that the printer is cheap because they make it up with the ink is bogus. I have paid for my printers with overpriced ink many times over. Now I buy the cheapest ink I can find that works well.

Go to 4Inkjets http://www.4inkjets.com
I have used their ink since at least 2007. Much less expensive then the OEM ink and it lasts like the OEMs.
Based in Los Angeles. I currently use a Epson printer and the photos print out great.

InkJets are a scam... folks just see the $30 or $50 price tag, not realizing they are going to get nailed for that much or more every few months for ink....

After retirement, I took a beer money job at WalMart as a night stocker. I happened to be in the electronics department when a woman came up and asked where the printers were. I showed her and went on my way. A little later I came back and she was talking with two WalMart suits. As I walked by, she asked me what I thought of an XYZ printer (I think the suits were pushing it).

I told her it was OK, but to check out the refill cartridge prices before buying it. The suits glared at me. I went on with my work and 15 minutes later I saw her leave the store - without the printer.

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