Packages of HP ink cartridges ares displayed at a Best Buy storePackages of HP ink cartridges ares displayed at a Best Buy store
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A United States District Court for the Northern District of California judge has signed off on a settlement agreement between HP and its customers who sued the company for issuing firmware updates that prevented their printers from working with non-HP ink and toner.
In December 2020, Mobile Emergency Housing Corp. and a company called Performance Automotive & Tire Center filed a class-action complaint against HP [PDF], alleging that the company “wrongfully compels users of its printers to buy and use only HP ink and toner supplies by transmitting firmware updates without authorization to HP printers over the Internet that lock out its competitors’ ink and toner supply cartridges.” The complaint centered on a firmware update issued in November 2020; it sought a court ruling that HP’s actions broke the law, an injunction against the firmware updates, and monetary and punitive damages.
“HP’s firmware ‘updates’ act as malware—adding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers, and rendering the competitors’ supply cartridges incompatible with HP printers,” the 2020 complaint reads.
HP calls using updates to prevent printers from using third-party ink and toner Dynamic Security. The term aims to brand the device bricking as a security measure. In recent years, HP has continued pushing this claim, despite security experts that Ars has spoken with agreeing that there’s virtually zero reason for printer users to worry about getting hacked through ink.
After years of litigation, in August 2024, HP and the plaintiffs reached a settlement agreement that Judge Susan Van Keulen approved on Tuesday [PDF].
Under the settlement agreement, HP doesn’t admit to any wrongdoing. It also won’t pay any monetary relief to customers impacted by the November 2020 firmware update.
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However, HP agreed to pay $5,000 each to Mobile Emergency Housing Corp., Performance Automotive & Tire Center, and David Justin Lynch, who was eventually added to the complaint, “to compensate them for the services they performed on behalf of the classes,” HP said. It will also pay $725,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses.