Oh man, we’ve got some trouble. Actually, most everyone (in the printer ink world) could see it coming. It was only a matter of time before someone decided that Staples 2007 decision to stop selling remanfuactured cartridges was a violation of an antitrust law and bring a lawsuit.

An individual named Ranjit Bedi filed the lawsuit yesterday against both Staples and Hewlett Packard. He claimed that both companies had broken antitrust laws when they jointly formed the deal that would elminate remanufactured inkjet cartridges from Staples offerings.

The lawsuit claims that the two companies reached “an illegal agreement between competitors to stop competing” when HP paid Staples (what HP calls) market development funds to stop selling non-HP-brand inkjet printer cartridges. These cartridges are better known as compatible cartridges or remanufactured cartridges.

Additionally the lawsuit claims that HP paid Staples $100 million (WOW!) to stop selling these cartridges. How this figure of $100 million was derived is unknown. We have heard rumors of a figure that was much higher. But those are just rumors, so we’ll leave it at that. Here is where it gets dicey for Staples and HP, and extremely profitable for the lawyers involved. The suit is seeking class action status based on that fact that the agreement violates the Sherman Act and Clayton Act. These acts phohibit noncompetitive behavior.

Our take . . . Staples made a decision that limited a customer’s decision to choose. Not so good when the customer has so many other options when it comes to purchasing their printer cartridges.

Neither Staples or HP have commented yet. But you can. Let Pacific Ink know what you think of Staples decision to stop selling non-HP-brand cartridges.