Turbon AG, a German maker of replacement laser printer cartridges, has lodged a suit in U.S. federal court against Hewlett-Packard. The claim: HP stole the company’s trade secrets for refilling and remanufacturing toner cartridges.

The suit says that HP, in negotiating with Turbon to subcontract the refilling of its own returns cartridges, had demanded full disclosures of Turbon’s business and technology processes. It then dropped Turbon and, according to the suit, made use of the trade secrets to improve and expand its own recycling and refilling program. HP then ramped up its own cartridge return program, making fewer empty available for Turbon to convert.

According to a Reuters article: “The lawsuit seeks damages for fraudulent inducement, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition, a ban on the use of improperly obtained secrets, and other remedies.”

As with any lawsuit, the filing is just the beginning. The lawsuit is, however, part of an ongoing struggle between the original manufacturers and the remanufacturers/refillers that strikes at the center of all profitability in the printer business. The original manufacturers leave themselves vulnerable thanks to very high prices on most toner cartridges, especially for the lower-speed machines.

For Turbon, as for other reputable remanufacturers, they are hurt by a wide-open market with lots of poor-quality fly-by-night competitors that give bad experiences and a bad name to all remanufacturers. In the end, even the better firms have trouble piercing through the general distrust in the market.

Tags: Hew, Hewlett-Packard, HP, lawsuit, remanufacturer, Turbon AG