HP unlawfully blocks third party cartridges by pushing firmware update

Printergate: when your printer works against you

Consumers buy a printer expecting to choose which cartridges to use. HP told them they could: its printers were promoted as compatible with third-party cartridges. In practice, they were not.

What this means in practice for consumers?

Since at least the end of 2016, HP pushed firmware updates to its printers, often without users knowing. After these updates, consumers installing third-party cartridges received an error message suggesting the cartridge was defective. Believing their perfectly good cartridges were faulty, many were forced to buy more expensive original HP cartridges, or even replace their printer entirely.

This practice, linked to planned obsolescence, is not only illegal but irresponsible. It causes financial harm to consumers and deliberately increases waste at a time when every effort should go into reducing it. It is also unacceptable that HP took control of consumers’ devices for its own benefit, reading printer information and pushing updates without their knowledge. Consumers should be in full control of their own devices.

A strong case against HP

In Italy, on 17 November 2020, the Italian competition authority (AGCM) found HP liable for unfair commercial practices and fined it €10 million.
In the United States, HP settled a class action over similar claims, agreeing to pay each plaintiff USD 100–150, for a total of USD 1.5 million.
Across Europe, the Italian law behind the AGCM decision derives from the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, meaning similar claims can be brought in other EU countries.

Equal compensation for equal harm

Consumers in Europe and Brazil suffered the same harm as those in the United States and should not be treated differently. Euroconsumers and its members therefore asked HP to compensate every affected HP printer owner in Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Brazil with up to €150, just as it did in the US, and to immediately stop this misleading, harmful and anticompetitive practice. In the absence of a satisfactory answer, Euroconsumers stood ready to launch a class action.

What happened next

Euroconsumers’ pressure paid off. HP later agreed to set up a compensation fund of up to USD 1.35 million for affected printer owners in Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal, allowing them to claim up to €95 per household through Euroconsumers’ national organisations.