Kyodo News reports:
The Japanese Fair Trade Commission said last week that it terminated a probe on Canon after finding the company did not violate the Japanese Antimonopoly Law in connection with the sale of laser printer toner cartridges. (The FTC had raided Canon's Tokyo headquarters last October on suspicion that the camera and printer company obstructed the sale of toner cartridges produced by other firms for use in Canon printers.)
According to the FTC, Canon sold six types of printers in 2002 and 2003, and Canon-branded cartridges for them contained integrated circuits to inform users about the remaining amount of toner and other data. The FTC suspected that the printers wold not operate if recycled cartridges, produced by other companies, were used because the printers would recognize they were not made by Canon.
(Recycled cartridges are sold at about half the price of Canon-branded cartridges. Two companies have begun sales of recycled cartridges that can be used in Canon's laser printers.)
The FTC found that Canon laser printers do work with recycled cartridges. In August, Canon said that its printers will operate even if recycled cartridges are installed.
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