Brother Says It Was Falsely Accused Of Bricking Printers That Use Cheaper Third-Party Ink Cartridges

For years, more ham-fisted printer manufacturers have waged a not-so-subtle war on consumers by blocking the ability to use cheaper, third-party printer cartridges. HP and Canon have both been particularly obnoxious on this front, and continue to engage in the practice despite a growing pile of assorted lawsuits.

Brother has historically been one of the last major printer manufacturers that doesn’t engage in this practice, something that should be applauded.

Yet the company found itself on the receiving end of recent accusations that it too had begun bricking the printers of users who try to install third-party cartridges. The rumblings began courtesy of a YouTube video and several lazy subsequent articles about it claiming the company had done an about face.

But the accusations were entirely based on a 2022 Reddit post from a user who had problems after a firmware update. The problem wasn’t new, and it wasn’t clear Brother actually did anything differently.

Ars Technica managed to do actual reporting and ask Brother about it. The company repeatedly insists that absolutely nothing has changed in regards to the company’s treatment of third-party ink and toner cartridges:

“We are aware of the recent false claims suggesting that a Brother firmware update may have restricted the use of third-party ink cartridges. Please be assured that Brother firmware updates do not block the use of third-party ink in our machines.”

There are various claims peppered around Reddit by users who claim a firmware update blocked their use of third-party cartridges. But Brother says that while its software and hardware do check to confirm whether official Brother cartridges are installed (which might cause inadvertent bugs for some users), they don’t block their use in any way (FWIW I have an MFC-L3770CDW LaserJet that has never struggled to use cheap third-party toner).

It’s unfortunate for Brother, given, again, it’s one of the few remaining manufacturers not being an asshole on this subject. So far.

A few years ago, printer manufacturers took this tactic one step further, and began preventing users from being able to use a multifunction printer’s scanner if they didn’t have company sanctioned ink installed. Canon was hit with a $5 million lawsuit in 2021 for the practice, but was able to quietly settle it privately without facing much accountability, or having to change much of its behavior.

In 2022 HP was also hit with a lawsuit (pdf) for preventing scanners from working without sanctioned ink cartridges installed, and not being transparent about this with customers. HP has spent a few years trying to wiggle out of the suit, but hasn’t had much luck. 

Lawsuits don’t seem to be deterring the behavior by most major companies. And given Trump 2.0 is turning most consumer protection regulators into the legal equivalent of damp roadside cardboard, there are fewer disincentives than ever for companies that want to goose their quarterly earnings by nickel-and-diming their loyal customers.