Lexmark Killer Firmware – Just Say "No"
by Tricia Judge, Int'l ITC

It seems Lexmark is committed to its anticompetitive ways, at least in the United Kingdom. Gerry Palmer, an end-user there discovered the hard way that saying "yes" to firmware upgrades leads to the printer saying "no" to printing with any remanufactured cartridges. Palmer, who uses his printers in his advertising business, is outraged.

So is Static Control Components, who wants its customers to warn other end-users around the globe that this threat is serious and irreversible. "We took the step, to get forearmed," said Steve Weedon, Executive Vice President at SCC. "We are encouraging our customers to tell their customers to say 'no' to firmware upgrades."

So far, only some ink jet printers are affected, but the threat of this problem spreading, as it has in the past, is very real. "To date, we know they have done this on ink jet printers," Weedon said. "But it is only a short step to move from ink jet to laser."

Lexmark paid a dear price when it waged war with the aftermarket a decade ago over Prebate and chips. Static Control prevailed in its lawsuit over patent rights to the chips and has now appealed to have the antitrust and patent misuse issues reintroduced. Lexmark could be on the hook for millions.

But here it goes again. Lexmark is strong-arming its customers into buying new supplies. It hasn't learned that customer loyalty is earned, not extorted.

"Lexmark has used firmware changes to lock out the aftermarket before," said Skip London, SCC's General Counsel. "At our trial, Lexmark admitted to making firmware changes for the purpose of locking out aftermarket cartridges. The Lexmark witnesses likened it to changing the locks." As far back as 2002, Lexmark has used its firmware "upgrades" to lock out competition. And before that, it used prebate and chips to commandeer business away from remanufacturers around the globe. Does it work as a total lockout, like some of its predecessor applications? "We have no details yet on how this current firmware change works," London said. "But it appears irreversible."

A Call to Action
SCC has moved swiftly to notify its customers of this imminent threat. "We are suggesting that they make the end-user aware" Weedon said. "There is the potential that he will be locked out from using remanufactured cartridges."

"Protect your remanufactured- cartridge customers," Weedon said. "Tell them to say 'no' to upgrades. They are happy with the machine and its performance with remanufactured cartridges. They must know of this threat. This is an awareness campaign."

To help its customers do just that, SCC has prepared a package of information that informs end-users of the dangers of allowing these firmware upgrades. The package includes labels that can be placed on cartridge boxes or printers. These labels warn anyone that uses the printer or supplies it with cartridges that firmware upgrades area bad idea.

"The first thing the user sees when he opens the box are the labels. And he can notify any of the machine users that the upgrades could lock you out," Weedon said. "Our customers are sending them out directly to the customers before they even get a cartridge."

And it is already working. "From the first nine days of the program, we can see that our customer base is taking it seriously," Weedon said. "The Industry grapevine is working overtime."

Read more about this threat and actions you can take to stop it from hurting your business and frustrating your customers. Look for an article by Int'l ITC's Executive Tricia Judge in the April issue of Recharger Magazine.