Digital BW, The Print

> It looks like they are going after some pretty small things, ...

And they've left the door open to naming more parties.

> ... I
> look at some of the things that they received a patent for and really
> start to question how they could have received it for such a common
> place usage. Using an "O" ring to seal something (anything) is not
> innovation, it's been done for many, many years.

Yes, but the substance of the patent claims can't be decided by the ITC in
the context of their summarily excluding broad classes of competitive
products.  One of the problems here is that the legal and policy issues
presented are extremely complex.  The ITC in the context of what it does
with this Epson petition is not the place to decide them.  


It may not seem like it, but we're dealing here with issues at the interface
between intellectual property and competition policy.  The net effects on
competition, innovation and consumer welfare are at the cutting edge of
these fields.  Even issues of international trade the relations between the
US and EU are raised.  These are really knarly issues that the ITC will
probably not touch if it knows what it's getting into.

Demonstrating what it is about to get into is what I'm doing. 

 
> On another note, I now have a cart from an Epson C86/cx6600 to
> dissect. There must be a way to refill these! And I plan to find out.

I'm also thinking of ways to circumvent the restrictions just in case Epson
succeeds.  

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com