Click-wrap, it's not just for software anymore!

The last technology director at this school handled the recycling of used ink and toner cartridges. Apparently, if you take them to Office Depot, they will give you a free ream of paper, or something like that. I found a company that will give you either money or points which can be used to order things from a very large catalog. They take cartridges as well as old cell phones. I haven't made any announcement about this recycling campaign yet, but the word has gotten around. The high school librarian gave me some toner cartridges to use in this recycling program. Guess what? It turns out that she is bound by law to return those cartridges to Lexmark, and only to Lexmark. There is an agreement on the box, and apparently, when you open the box, you agree to return the cartridge only to Lexmark. A court decided that since the agreement is designed to protect Lexmark's patented cartridge, that the agreement is enforceable (Lexmark could sue the end user who fails to return the cartridge to them, if they wanted to). Also, any company that accepts them for recycling can be sued by Lexmark for inducing patent infringement.