Now, the Court has ruled again along those same lines, handing a victory to consumer groups in a case about printer cartridges — or more specifically, toner cartridges, the kind used by laser printers. Those machines rely on toner cartridges, which must be changed every so often when they run out, just like ink cartridges in your home printer. And just like home printing, laser printing hinges on a razor-and-blades business model where much of the manufacturer's income depends on the reliable sale of new toner cartridges. To protect its business model, Lexmark basically did some things that made it harder for people to get cheap, used cartridges on the secondhand market. Those tactics were designed to make it more likely for customers to choose Lexmark's own cartridges, according to the Court.

Source: Washington Post May 31, 2017 14:18 UTC