User Guide

Technical White Paper | Aftermarket Chips for HP LaserJet Printers
Aftermarket manufacturers are henceforth prompted to program their
chips so that proper messaging is displayed to the end user and their
products are not misrepresented.
Introduction
For many years HP printers have provided a message to end users when a toner cartridge is installed in the printer,
stating either “Genuine HP Supply Installed” or “non-HP Supply Installed.”
One method that is used to properly identify cartridges is if the chip manufacturer has programmed the manufacturer
ID field (also known as the trademark field) on their chip so that it accurately displays the chip manufacturer brand
name. However, this is often not the case; instead, some manufacturers of aftermarket chips deliberately identify
themselves as “Genuine HP” in order to more favorably position their products with their customers.
Customers have a right to know the brand of cartridge they have purchased. In fact, cartridges that misidentify
themselves as HP when they are really alternatives are potentially deceptive in brand identification or, worse, may be
counterfeit. To improve customer transparency, HP’s best-selling cartridges facilitate the proper identification of all
cartridge types by enabling the same core features for non-HP as HP cartridges. Aftermarket chip manufacturers are
henceforth prompted to change (or if already changed, maintain) their existing chips for certain platforms so that
proper messaging is
displayed to the end user. The purpose of this whitepaper is to inform manufacturers of
aftermarket chips of these changes; detail which toner chips should be changed; and explain the requirements for
ensuring that alternative chips are identified as such with no material impact to their core performance.
Background
HP printers provide a message to end users when the cartridge is installed in the printer. The primary purpose of this
message is to reassure the customer that the cartridge was installed correctly and the printer is ready to resume
printing. A secondary intent of this message is to inform the users of the type of cartridge installed. Though there is
some variation from printer to printer, cartridges manufactured and distributed by HP are generally identified with the
message “Genuine HP Supply Installed.” Those manufactured or
remanufactured by other parties should be identified
as “non-HP Supply Installed.”
For many years, HP’s toner cartridges have decoupled the manufacturer field from access to core features.
Aftermarket chips that properly identify themselves as non-HP will not lose access to printer core functionality. As a
result, there is no plausible benefit for aftermarket chip makers to misidentify their products as Genuine HP, and
customers should be properly notified of the type of cartridge installed.
Need
Aftermarket manufacturers are henceforth prompted to program their existing chips for certain current and future
printers so that proper messaging is displayed to the end user and their products are not misrepresented.
Properly identifying a cartridge as non-HP will not result in a loss of core features or degraded performance. In
addition, manufacturers that produce chips with correct messaging will help ensure that their products will not
be used to sell misidentified (counterfeit) product.
As long as chip manufacturers make the changes to their existing products in a timely way, and as long as future
solutions follow these design protocols from the beginning, the costs of implementation should be immaterial to the
manufacturer.
Solution
To ensure accurate messaging, HP printer firmware reads and reacts on messaging based on data fields on the chip.
Provided that the fields on the chip are programmed properly, non-HP cartridges can be identified as such. For
LaserJet printers introduced prior to 2015 to properly identify their cartridges and avoid potential facilitation of