Staples Alleged to Violate Antitrust Laws

Boston A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Boston on Tuesday alleges that Staples and Hewlett-Packard had violated antitrust laws through their partnership regarding the sale of replacement inkjet printer cartridges.

The lawsuit was filed by Ranjit Bedi, who claims that the two companies had unlawfully agreed to stop competing when HP paid Staples more than $100 million to stop selling non-HP branded inkjet printer cartridges for HP printers. The suit is seeking class-action status.

According to reports, no information is known about Bedi, other than that he is from Pacific Palisades, Calif., and it is unknown how he came up with the amount of $100 million.