Hewlett-Packard has filed a patent-infringement complaint with the ITC, the US trade regulator, over cut-price clone inkjet cartridges imported into America. The company says that two products, intended to replace HP 51626A and HP 51629A cartridges, contravene six patents it holds.

It wants the ITC to ban the importation or sale of the offending beasts in the US. Three companies are named in HP's complaint - Microjet Technology of Taiwan, Price-Less Inkjet Cartridge of Port Charlotte, Florida, and Printer Essentials.com in Reno, Nevada. ®