In recent years, printer supply manufacturers including Xerox, Canon, and Lexmark have been battling the increased illegal distribution of counterfeit toner cartridges throughout the United States. A counterfeit toner cartridge can be defined as a toner cartridge which appears to be manufactured by a major brand (Xerox, HP, Oki, Canon, Lexmark etc) and carries the logos, packaging, and other features that may lead the end user to believe it is an actual Genuine OEM toner cartridge when in reality the toner has an unknown, unauthorized manufacturer that in most cases does not comply with today’s printing compliance standards. Using these unauthorized and untested toners can damage your printer and will not last as long or print as clear as using Genuine and / or Quality Compatible toner cartridges.

In 2004, Xerox was able to work with customs officials from multiple countries to seize more than 7,200 counterfeit toner cartridges claiming to be Genuine Xerox toner cartridges for the Xerox Phaser 780. The estimated value of these busts was worth well over $1.3 million.

counterfeit toner cartridges

“Hundreds of thousands of illegal products, worth millions of dollars, are removed from commerce each year,” said Bill Duffy, president and chief executive officer of the Imaging Supplies Coalition, a nonprofit trade association. “This is a problem that faces the entire printing industry, and is something all manufacturers must remain vigilant in fighting to help prevent damage to the ultimate victim – the customer.” The Imaging Supplies Coalition is a non-profit trade association comprised of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of consumable imaging supplies (ribbons, toner, inks, cartridges, etc.) and equipment that have joined together to protect their customers by combating illegal activities in the Imaging Supplies Industry. The ISC currently has members including Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Okidata, Samsung, Toshiba, and Xerox.

Lexmark was also successful in finding thousands of counterfeit Lexmark toner cartridges and filed suit against a New York based company named Finetone who were allegedly importing and distributing counterfeit Lexmark toner cartridges. The cartridges and packaging carried unauthorized reproductions of Lexmark’s trademarks.

In 2005, Canon conducted a civil raid of a US distributor who was engaging in the sale of counterfeit Canon toners. Canon was able to seize thousands of the counterfeit Canon supplies and the distributor has since agreed to no longer sell these types of supplies and also had to pay damages to Canon for the numerous violations. Canon encourages customers to buy Canon toner from authorized Canon dealers or distributors.

HP has taken the battle to the web and has released several informative and somewhat entertaining videos regarding the topic of counterfeit HP toner cartridges. Also, between 2005 to 2008, HP has conducted 4,620 investigations in 55 countries, resulting in 3,528 enforcement actions conducted by law enforcement officials where more than $795 million worth of counterfeit supplies products have been seized, including more than 8 million counterfeit ink cartridges and more than six million counterfeit toner cartridges – a total of more than 15 million counterfeit pieces. HP also has a great information page that will walk you through the steps on verifying that you have purchased a true Genuine HP Toner or HP Ink cartridge – click here to view the steps.

Counterfeit Product Defense (according to ISC)

“How can I tell if the product I buy is counterfeit”?
Due to the technology now available to the counterfeiters it can be difficult to distinguish counterfeit products from genuine.  You should pay close attention to the 5 P’s which are discussed below.

1. Person:  The ISC strongly encourages you to purchase imaging supplies from the OEM or one of their authorized resellers (such as The Supplies Guys ). This is the one best thing you can do to be sure you are buying genuine merchandise.
2. Price:  If the purchase price of the OEM product is substantially under the market price or looks like a deal that is too good to be true the product may not be legitimate. The ISC advises you to be very cautious with these situations.
3. Place:  Be cautious if the manner or place of the offer is different from the normal process of business or consumer transactions.
4. Packaging:  Be observant for any deviation in color, materials quality, spelling errors in the packaging. Many OEM’s have a product authentication hologram or color shift label on the packaging to assist in verification. Familiarize yourself with those used by your brand of choice and check for them.
5. Performance:  If you notice any significant variation in the performance of the product from previous experience or obvious defects in quality such as odor or leakage, the product may not be genuine.

Consumers who believe they may have purchased counterfeit imaging products can contact the ISC at (859) 278-3032 or visit www.isc-inc.org.

One way to be certain that you are not buying counterfeit ink or toner cartridges is to always buy from The Supplies Guys We only sell the highest quality Genuine OEM and Compatible ink and toner cartridges – and all of our products carry a 100% quality and satisfaction guarantee!

Did you know that the US Postal service returns 5 billion pieces of undeliverable mail each year? This cost the US postal service more than $1.8 billion dollars in 2004…

Pitney Bowes printer supplies company is leading the coalition of environmentally friendly manufacturers in the printer industry.  They are striving to become a more responsible printer supplies company and reducing their impact on the environment by improving the sustainability of the Pitney Bowes printer supplies, monitoring how the company operates and revolutionizing the printer manufacturer industry as a whole with ground breaking innovations.

Pitney Bowes is dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of our operations, products and services. – Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes’ Printer Supplies Green Design

Back in 1991 when their competitors were thinking about reducing costs and increasing the bottom lines, Pitney Bowes was thinking about improving the world. That is why they created the Design for Environmental Quality (DfEQ) program. The goal with the program was to minimize environmental impact at an early stage of product development and throughout the printer supplies’ life cycle starting with the material input, moving into manufacturing and ending in recycling. As a result many Pitney Bowes printer supplies are labeled as Energy-star efficient, and their products on average consume 10 to 14% less energy per life cycle than their product predecessor.

On top of their “lean green” manufacturing techniques, 95% of Pitney Bowes printer supplies are recyclable.  They make a conscious effort to recover Pitney Bowes pritner supplies which can be demonstrated in the fact that in 2008, Pitney Bowes processed nearly 8 million pounds of cooper, steel, paper and other materials through Pitney Bowes printer supplies return programs.  Lastly, Pitney Bowes developed the ecowise℠ service to help consumers identify their carbon footprint and provide find ways to reduce it!

Pitney Bowes “Lean Green” Operations

The printer supplies manufacturer is constantly on the hunt for new, innovative ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint. In 2007, Pitney Bowes Norway began replacing their leased vehicles with ones with lower emissions. They gave employees three options: electric, hydrogen or bio-fuel.  This move resulted in 40% lower emissions.  Pitney Bowes has also established an “energy task force” to bring employee awareness about energy conservation. In 2008, Pitney Bowes was able to reduce their electricity consumption by 3 million kilowatt hours, saving $873,000 and reducing carbon footprint by 2.6K metric tons of carbon oxide. Pitney Bowes has also made energy efficiency improvements to their offices by improving heating, ventilation & A/C units as well as purchasing energy-star approved computer monitors and installing motion sensors to control lighting systems. An article on Office-Suites.com reports that Pitney Bowes is joining other large corporations such as IBM and DuPont by encouraging commercial landlords to offer competitive rates for “green office” units. The site also reports Pitney Bowes leases 362 offices in the United States alone (totaling 2.8 million sq. ft).

The last two initiatives Pitney Bowes printer supplies manufacturer has employed include; their waste management / recycling program and sustainable forest projects.  Pitney Bowes has been volunteering in the EPA’s WasteWise program, designed to reduce corporate waste, since 1996. In 2008, Pitney Bowes was named to the WasteWise Hall of Fame for their continued commitment (In 2008 alone their program diverted 7.52 thousand tons of waste from land fills) to the program. Back in 2003 Pitney Bowes entered into a partnership with the EPA and began purchasing renewable energy credits to support green power projects (solar, wind & biomass). It is also worthy to note that Pitney Bowes has a paper procurement and sustainability team that monitors the company’s paper consumption both internally and externally to decrease overall waste.

Environmental Impacts To Date?

We will let the graph below speak for itself in terms of the “hard numbers”. Bottom line, Pitney Bowes is a leader within the printer industry in terms of going green and becoming a sustainable, forward-thinking company.  Other companies, not just those in the printing business or in manufacturing for that matter should model their ethics and behavior after Pitney Bowes, who have proven time again that a company can improve the bottom-line without negatively impacting the environment. The world is a better place with Pitney Bowes.

To learn more about Pitney Bowes’ corporate responsibility visit their website which includes white papers, studies and other reports pertaining to green operations.

At the launch of Google Buzz, Sergey Brin, one of Google’s co-founders, highlighted an example of using their new social network within a business. Brin explained that when writing an op-ed for the New York Times, he posted a draft of his article on Google Buzz and invited his network to respond with their own ideas and edits. Shortly after posting, Brin says he received around 50 comments. With the ability to obtain all of that feedback in such a short amount of time, Brin introduces the idea of real-time collaboration in Google Buzz.

Here are some ideas on how businesses can take advantage of Google Buzz:

With the option to post privately to a small group of users, Buzz can be implemented among employees. They can use Buzz to toss ideas around with one another, schedule meetings (or lunch dates) and share informational articles through Google Reader.

Buzz can also be used externally, to reach out to customers, using the public settings. Unlike Twitter, Google Buzz does not limit users to 140 characters, which is an advantage for businesses looking to utilize the social network.

With Buzz, customers can interact with the company, as well as with one another. In this format, customers can address the company with product reviews and concerns. Then other customers can jump in with solutions or discussions, creating a forum-like atmosphere.

Companies can also use Buzz to update customers with current specials, upcoming promotions, product reviews and news updates pertaining to the company or their products.

What other ways do you think companies can utilize Google Buzz for business – have you seen any doing so? Or, do you think it will be too noisy and just not a fan of Google Buzz?

Let us know in the comments!

If you are looking for great deals on Dell toner supplies then the Supplies Guys is where you need to be shopping. Our wide selection of Dell toner supplies and un-beatable prices (including the lowest shipping costs & free shipping specials) are just two of the reasons you should purchase your Dell toner supplies from us.  Let’s look at some of our featured Dell toner supplies & Dell color laser toner cartridges to see how our prices (including shipping & taxes) compare to some of the other leading toner supplies sites.

Compatible Dell Toner Supplies Comparison

* Note these prices are subject to change and are accurate as of 2/16/2010.

Do you care more about low prices & wide selections when considering whom to purchase your Dell toner supplies from? Well then you should be happy to know that we have an excellent customer service team who is willing to answer any questions you may have about your Dell toner supplies or your order. If that still isn’t enough then consider that we offer our 45-day, 100% satisfaction guarantee on every product sold through SuppliesGuys.com, including OEM and compatible Dell toner supplies. If you would like to read more about our return policy or guarantee then we suggest  you check out the following link: Supplies Guys guarantee.

We urge you to browse our wide selection of Dell toner supplies including; OEM & compatible toner cartridges, maintenance kits, fuser units, and so much more. We urge you to browse our Dell toner supplies and if you cannot find what you are looking for or would like to order over the phone, please call a customer service representative today – 888-722-0390.