KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! (c)No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the commission if: How This Affects You! The manufacturer of the printer, copier, or fax machine you are using cannot void the warranty of your printer because you use a cartridge manufactured by someone other than the printer, fax, or copier manufacturer. This applies to both compatible and remanufactured cartridges. IBM vs. The United States Furthermore, you don't have to be intimidated when the printer, copier, or fax people tell you that you will void your warranty on your equiptment if you do not use the OEM ink or toner. This is illegal and is referred to as product linking. The Supreme Court (IBM vs. The United States) held that IBM could not threaten customers with termination of their data processing equiptment leases just because they did not use supplies manufactured by IBM. Such practice constituted a "tying agreement" and was found to be in violation of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Law. How This Affects You! Stand up for your right of free choice of vendor because you are acting within the letter of the law. Your printer, copier and fax service people are aware of lower priced supplies, so threatening to void warranties and service call service call charges are their only defense. Save this information to intimidate them with their illegal actions! |