Hewlett-Packard Co. has initiated a legal action against MicroJet Technology Co. and other three companies alleging infringement of patents.

The company, which is based in Palo Alto, California, has stressed that the Taiwanese manufacturer of printer ink cartridges, and the other companies, have utilized its own patents in their HP-compatible color ink cartridges.

The lawsuit has been slapped against MicroJet, Mipo and Mipo unit in Miami, PTC Holdings Ltd. and SinoTime Technologies Inc.

The grievances filed on March 5 revealed that these companies changed almost 300,000 authentic HP printheads in Asia and also sold these across the world as products produced by Mipo Technology Ltd.

“Our lawyers are currently investigating the situation”, said John Kuo, Spokesman for Hsinchu, Taiwan-based MicroJet.

60% of Microjet is held by DBTEL Inc., Kuo said. Mipo is a MicroJet client and SinoTime and PTC are not linked with each other.

The case has been filed as Hewlett Packard vs. MicroJet Technology, 10-00965, U. S. District Court, Northern District of California.