Epson is one of eBay’s “trusted partners,” which means it can send takedown notices that eBay will honor without examining them, giving it enormous power over who gets to sell what on one of the world’s biggest online marketplaces.
The company has been using dodgy patent infringement notices to get its competitors removed from eBay (and other sites), though it won’t say which patents are being violated or how. What’s more, it’s targeting sellers, rather than manufacturers, suggesting that it’s not really interested in enforcing its rights, but rather, eliminating its competition.
Inkjet companies say they need to charge more for ink than Moet charges for vintage Champagne, otherwise they’ll have to raise prices on their printers. That may be true – who knows? – but you could make the same argument about a car that was designed to only accept one brand of gas or a toaster than only accepts one brand of bread. Companies are welcome to try those strategies, but when they abuse the law to prevent competitors from thwarting their plans, they’re no longer in the business of supplying a market need – they’re now in the business of deciding what kinds of markets are allowed to exist at all.
