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The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky has issued a preliminary injunction against Static Control Components, Inc., (SCC) of Sanford, N.C., finding that Lexmark is likely to prevail at trial on the merits of its copyright infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims. The court ordered SCC to cease making, selling or otherwise trafficking in the Smartek microchip used in the remanufacturing of laser toner cartridges developed for the Lexmark T520/522 and T620/622 laser printers.

Lexmark claimed in a suit filed in December that the Smartek microchips incorporated infringing copies of Lexmark’s copyrighted software and were being sold by SCC to defeat Lexmark’s technological controls, thereby allowing unauthorized access to Lexmark’s protected software programs and the unauthorized remanufacturing of certain Lexmark toner cartridges.

In passing down his ruling, Judge Karl Forester said, “The Court has no trouble accepting SCC’s claim that public policy generally favors competition. The Court finds, however, that this general principle only favors legitimate competition. Public policy certainly does not support copyright infringement and violations of the DMCA in the name of competition.”

“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” said Vincent Cole, Lexmark’s general counsel. “We invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually in research and development to help ensure that we are providing the very best technologies and the finest services and support to our valued customers. We believe that our printing solutions and services make us unique, and we intend to vigorously protect the intellectual property that helps to set us apart from our competition,” he said.

Lexmark offers its customers a choice in toner cartridge purchases including a readily available cartridge that may be remanufactured by anyone without the need of a third-party microchip. Lexmark also has a cartridge return program that provides customers with an up front discount in exchange for their agreement to return the used cartridge only to Lexmark for remanufacturing. This environmentally friendly program has significantly increased toner cartridge returns to Lexmark, allowing the company to keep these toner cartridges out of the waste stream and enabling Lexmark to offer its customers high quality remanufactured toner cartridges. Since instituting its remanufacturing program, Lexmark has grown to become one of the largest laser toner cartridge remanufacturers in the world.

About Lexmark
Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of printing solutions -- including laser and inkjet printers, multifunction products, associated supplies and services -- for offices and homes in more than 150 countries. Founded in 1991, Lexmark reported approximately $4.4 billion in revenue in 2002, and can be found on the Internet at www.lexmark.com.<< />

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