Recently, the 21st Civil Division of the Munich Regional Court handed down a ruling in the patent infringement case brought by HP against Ninestar (Case No. 21 O 3846/25), prohibiting the Chinese company Ninestar and its four subsidiaries from selling specific printer cartridges in Germany, and finding the Chinese parent company jointly liable for infringement due to its ‘organisational control’ over the group’s operations.

Ninestar Corporation, now renamed Pantum Technology, is headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong, and is one of the world’s largest remanufacturers of printer consumables, owning brands such as Pantum and G&G. In 2024, the group remanufactured over 20.9 million ink cartridges and toner cartridges worldwide.

Previously, HP sued Ninestar and its European distributors Seine Holland, G&G, Zhuhai Ninestar Information Technology Co., Ltd. and Ninestar Imaging Technology Co., Ltd., alleging that the ink cartridges they sold infringed HP’s EP 3 530 470 patent. The patent relates to the mechanical and electrical features of ink cartridges, specifically targeting HP 963XL cartridges that were originally launched in the North American market and subsequently modified. Whilst the European distributors largely admitted to the infringement allegations, the Chinese defendants argued that they had not committed any direct acts of infringement in Germany, and that corporate affiliation alone was insufficient to establish liability.

Presiding Judge Hubertus Schacht and his panel found the defendant liable for infringement and adopted an extended standard of group liability. The court noted that the ample evidence provided by the claimant demonstrated that the Nasda Group exercised “organisational control” over its global printer consumables remanufacturing business; consequently, foreign group entities and even the Chinese parent company were held liable for the infringing acts on the German market. The court also issued a sales injunction, which is enforceable upon the payment of a security deposit.

Furthermore, HP has brought proceedings against another Nasda subsidiary, CaiLuo Technology, at the Munich Regional Court regarding other patents within the same patent family; some of these cases have been settled or resulted in sales injunctions, whilst related appeals are currently pending. Meanwhile, HP has obtained a provisional injunction at the Unified Patent Court (UPC) against Shenzhen Moan Technology and its German distributor, Andreas Rentmeister, prohibiting the sale of the allegedly infringing ink cartridge products in seven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.