Ninestar G&G Pleased with US Customs Ruling

Ninestar G&G Pleased with US Customs Ruling

Leaders at Ninestar G&G have welcomed a ruling that their “patent-safe” cartridges, which can be used in certain Brother printers, do not infringe Brother’s patents in the USA.

Brother has allegedly declined to object to the ruling made by the Exclusion Order Enforcement Branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on October 22, 2022.

On November 23, 2020, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) awarded a General Exclusion Order (GEO) to Brother. The 337-TA-1174 investigation sought to protect Brother’s US patents numbered 9,785,093, 9,575,460, 9,568,856, 9,632,456, or 9,846,387 from infringing products imported and sold within the USA.

US Customs is charged with the responsibility of stopping printer cartridges that infringe the GEO from entering the country.

It also has the authority to investigate whether the products do infringe if and when the supplier makes a request to do so. Such suppliers would argue their products do not violate the intellectual property rights of others, in this case, Brother.

US-based Gary Hnath, Ninestar’s legal counsel for Ninestar advised Ninestar that he had received the ruling from Customs that clears Ninestar’s products of being infringing.

Ninestar researched, designed and developed its own compatible range of toner cartridges to be different, yet still able to function properly inside the printer. According to Hnath, the Ninestar cartridge has designed around the need to have certain gears and electrodes which are parts of Brother’s patents.

“We invest heavily in the research and development of our products to make sure we respect the intellectual property of others,” said Eric Zhang, General Manager of Ninestar Image.

“The ruling from the customs authorities in the USA is a huge validation for our Ninestar G&G products. Our partners and distributors can be confident of our due diligence.”

Some media outlets in the US, have continued to spread misinformation about compatible and remanufactured products coming from China. Ninestar told RT Media it “does not engage in the activity of selling cloned or copycat products. Nor does it sell counterfeit products.”

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• Scott Odom to Spearhead Sales for Ninestar in Germany
• Ninestar Opens its German Office
• Ninestar Establishes New Warehouse in the UK

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