News Release

Settlement of patent infringement lawsuit for inkjet printer cartridges

December 17, 2009—Five defendants in a patent infringement suit that Canon filed agreed to settle today.

Canon initiated the patent infringement suit for preliminary and permanent injunctions before the Tokyo District Court against the five defendant companies named below, alleging that non-genuine ink cartridges for Canon-manufactured inkjet printers sold by the five companies infringed Canon's patent for LED-equipped inkjet cartridges.

Following the court's recommendation for settlement, the five companies, in accordance with the recommendation, have agreed to no longer import, sell, deliver or display for sales purposes the products in question. Accordingly, Canon has decided to settle with the companies.

Details of the lawsuit and settlement are outlined below.

1. Preliminary injunction petitioned: October 31, 2008
2. Permanent injunction petitioned : January 5, 2009
3. Court: Tokyo District Court
4. Date of settlement: December 17, 2009
5. Relief requested in the patent infringement suit: Preliminary and permanent injunction of the import, sale, and display for sales purposes of the products in question
6. Description of patent in suit : LED-equipped inkjet cartridges
7. Patent no. in suit: Japanese Patent No. 3793216
8. Defendants:
   Ohm Electric Inc. (2-26-4 Minami-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
   Color Creation Inc. (8-8 Namiki Motomachi, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan)
   Ninestar Japan Co., Ltd. (6-4-17 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
   Futurewell Holding Limited (6-4-17 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
   REV Corporation (1-8-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
9. Overview of settlement:
   The defendants will no longer import, sell, or display for sales purposes the following products.
   (A grace period for existing inventories and on-order products will be provided until the end of February 2010. For product models marked with an asterisk (*), the grace period will extend to the end of March 2010.)

Canon, in the development of its own inkjet printing technology, overcame a range of technical challenges and established a printer business based on this technology. Canon filed a patent infringement suit for preliminary and permanent injunctions because the company determined that the abovementioned actions infringed its intellectual property rights, interfering with the technological development of a corporation carrying out sound business operations and with the continuation of its business.

Canon views the intellectual property rights it has accumulated over many years of investment in research and development as vitally important assets. To realize healthy business growth, Canon, as one of its fundamental tenets, holds the intellectual property rights of other companies in the highest esteem and expects reciprocity from other companies.

To ensure proper printer performance so that users can continue using their products with confidence, Canon recommends the use of genuine Canon consumable products.