R285 - and a hell of alot of Ink!

[Paul]

I am sure it is legal to use unlicensed ink is illegal to sell it

[Paul]

Am I missing something?? Is there such a thing as 'illegal' Ink??........am I being completly niave?

sort of sawgrass hold the patent for small format printing

[Andrew]

totally illegal to use it as far as I am aware...... but that is not to say that it's not common place. Sawgrass hold the patent for all small format sublimation which means unless it is licensed by Sawgrass they can come after you. I have never heard of this happening to hobbyists but wouldn't broadcast the fact if you don't use the correct ink.

As for me, I always use the correct ink and would never consider ripping of a lovely company like Sawgrass as I enjoy being shafted by their pricing monopoly

[Traynor26]

Every day is a school day eh

[JSR]

totally illegal to use it as far as I am aware...... but that is not to say that it's not common place. Sawgrass hold the patent for all small format sublimation which means unless it is licensed by Sawgrass they can come after you. I have never heard of this happening to hobbyists but wouldn't broadcast the fact if you don't use the correct ink.

This is an area for legal people as we can all interpret it differently.

My understanding is that the patent covers the ink designed for a particular process (which is actually for thermal printers - not micro-piezo ones - go figure). The patent holder can go after anyone who infringes that patent. The end-user is not infringing the patent, the manufacturer is.

Anyone who's been doing sublimation for a few years wouldn't risk their business on non-Sawgrass ink for one very obvious reason. Sawgrass have spent considerable time and money closing down patent-infringers. If you've invested a lot of time, money, and effort setting up your business based on a non-Sawgrass ink, there is a very real possibility that, once you run out of one colour, you won't be able to get any more. Then you'll have to change to Sawgrass anyway.

In the instance of the OP, all that's happening is that he's taking a bunch of stuff off an ex-user and that bundle includes ink. Once the ink has gone, it's down to his conscience whether he seeks out more of the stuff (if it's available) or if he goes down the Sawgrass route.

I can't see Sawgrass knocking on his door and having a wobbly, but I can see them finding out who makes the ink and shutting them down - who knows, maybe they've already been shut down? Either way, the availability of the ink will be very limited.

As for me, I always use the correct ink and would never consider ripping of a lovely company like Sawgrass as I enjoy being shafted by their pricing monopoly

There are ways to avoid this. Buy ink in large quantities for price savings. Or buy a large format printer - then you can (legally) buy anyone's sublimation ink. Sawgrass' patent is only valid for desktop printers, not large format ones.

Personally, as much as I don't like Sawgrass' inflated prices, it's still signficantly cheaper than OEM ink - so it could be worse. I'll stick with my Artanium, thanks all the same.

[Andrew]

As far as I am aware and I have discussed this on several occasions on other forums, Sawgrass have it tied down securely and cover all small format dyesub printing. The last company which was fighting it's corner was TOG (Texas) who eventually caved in and sold out after declaring they would fight Sawgrass to the end.

There are other suppliers like Lyson who have equally as good ink as Sawgrass and sell vast quantities to the trade but for wide format printers. I swapped to a wide format printer a couple of years ago and now buy exactly the same Artainium ink but at 25% of the cost. If I was to use this ink in one of my smaller printers even though having bought it legally for wide format, then Sawgrass could fine me. Sawgrass have a monopoly to print money where the smaller guys are concerned. If they didn't inflate the ink so much then they wouldn't have the problem.

To the OP, I would carry on with what you have bought without worrying but just be aware not to mention to openly where Sawgrass might be lurking.

Good luck with getting started.

[JSR]

I swapped to a wide format printer a couple of years ago and now buy exactly the same Artainium ink but at 25% of the cost. If I was to use this ink in one of my smaller printers even though having bought it legally for wide format, then Sawgrass could fine me.

Clearly you've had more dealings here than I have so I don't dispute your claim, however this seems to make about as much sense as a chocolate fireguard.

You're effectively saying that, if you have two printers (one large format, and one small format for backup purposes) and you buy in litres of the cheap Artanium for the large format printer, that you can't use that ink in the small format one? You actually have to buy "25% cost Artanium" and "100% cost Artanium", and keep track of which one you use in which printer just on the off-chance Sawgrass throw their rattles out of their pram?

That's about the most barmy thing I've ever heard.

If you inadvertently put "25% cost Artanium" in the small-format printer, does everyone have coronaries until you've cleaned it out, chucked it all away, and put "100% cost Artanium" in there instead?

[Andrew]

JSR - totally agree with you and I could rant all day about it. It is completely stupid but this is how they make their money as they have created their own monopoly. If I wanted to run a one of my R1800's to go along with my 9000 yes I should really be purchasing 2 seperate lots of exactly the same ink with the 1800 ink costing 4 times the cost that tops up the Sawgrass slush fund. I just stick to wide format and buy Artainium in 1ltrs for the same price as what I used to buy 250ml. A ltr only lasts a month or 2 so is more convenient anyway.

The printer that I heard about who was caught using non Sawgrass ink was fined by them supposedly going through his invoices and calculating how much ink he used then working out the real cost.

It's a bit like telling a tea drinker they have to pay 4 times more for 1 of our mugs than a coffee drinker.

[Jason Davies]

OP you had a very good deal there, three of us imported equipment from China to dip our toes in about 12 months ago, it was a very interesting experience. Very good service and the products were pretty good. The inks you have are excellent and print to a very high standard, we did quite a bit of research around the quality before we committed.
Hope you enjoy.
Jase

[y30man5]

Is there an Artainium CISS system for the R285?