Canon is well known for the manufacturing of camera equipment and the company’s standard printers. The company’s printers are a trademark appliance for business and home users. However, the company is now being sued for not allowing its customers to use the scan or fax functions in multi-function devices if the ink runs out on numerous printer models.
David Leacraft, a user of the company’s appliances has filed a class-action lawsuit against Canon USA. In the lawsuit, the user alleges that the company has engaged in deceptive marketing and unjust enrichment practices.
The complainant decided to file the lawsuit against Canon upon discovering that the Pixma MG2522 printer which he purchased and which the company has advertised as an “all-in-one” machine, does not function as a scanner when ink cartridges are either low or empty.
Additionally, the faxing capabilities of the printer would also not work when certain printers ran out of ink. But the problem is that the ink is not required to perform the scanning or faxing documents.
In the complaint, Leacraft stresses that these features should function regardless of ink levels and due to this, the lawsuit involves. The lawsuit involves more than 100 class members and they are all seeking at least $5,000,000 in awards.
One of the alleged violations in the complaint includes unjust enrichment for which the lawsuit claims that states that Canon has disabled these functions to increase profits by selling replacement ink cartridges.
“As opposed to the “single function” printers it sells, Canon calls these multifunction devices a “3-in-1” or “4-in-1” for the fact they purportedly provide three or four functions. In truth, the All-in-One Printers do not scan or fax documents when the devices have low or empty ink cartridges (the “Design Issue”), and Canon’s advertising claims are false, misleading, and reasonably likely to deceive the public.
Canon does not represent or warn consumers that ink is a necessary component to scan or fax documents. As a result, consumers are forced to incur unexpected and unnecessary burdens and expenses in the form of ink purchases or the alternative be unable to scan or fax documents using the so-called all-in-one device.
There is no reason or technical basis for manufacturing the All-in-One Printers with an ink level detection function that causes the scanner to stop functioning when ink is low or empty. Canon designed the All-in-One Printers in such a way to require consumers to maintain ink in their devices regardless of whether they intend to print. The result is an increase in ink sales from which Canon obtains significant profits.”
