Class Action Claims Brother International Designed Laser Printers to Require Premature Toner Replacement

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In a proposed class action recently removed to Ohio federal court, a consumer takes issue with the design of laser printers and toner cartridges sold by Brother International Corporation. According to the lawsuit, the printers are programmed in such a way that consumers are required to replace toner cartridges even when “a significant amount of toner” still remains.

The plaintiff claims Brother’s laser printers “will refuse to print once a cartridge has been used a certain number of times,” notwithstanding a cartridge’s capacity to print “hundreds or thousands of additional pages of text.” What’s worse, the lawsuit claims Brother intentionally designed the printers to require a toner replacement prematurely in order to increase profits. From the complaint:

“Brother knew that the laser printer would preclude Plaintiff from using the full capacity of Plaintiff’s TN620 laser toner cartridge, yet intentionally designed its laser printers and toner cartridges to deny Plaintiff and other class members access to the full printing capacity of the useable toner in their laser printer toner cartridges.”

According to the case, the defendant harmed the plaintiff and proposed class members – those who purchased Brother laser toner cartridges during the relevant limitations period – in that they were denied full use of their toner cartridges and were required to replace the toner earlier than necessary.