Xerox Marks the Spot

One reason that Xerox Corp. has a quarter of the $500 million office copying field to itself is the more than 300 U.S. patents it holds covering its unique method of duplicating documents. None of them had ever been challenged in court until last week, when SCM Corp. and Addressograph-Multigraph Corp. took on Xerox in what could become one of the biggest patent fights in modern business history.

At issue is Xerox's domination of the dry-copying field (no messy, discoloring chemicals), the fastest-growing and most profitable part of the industry. Since Xerox came on the market in 1960 with its 914 model, which makes copies by dissipating an electrically charged powder onto ordinary paper, three other companies--SCM, Addressograph's Bruning division, and American Photocopy--have entered the field. The competitors' machines make copies on paper precoated with zinc oxide, a dry photoconductive chemical.

Last week the Patent Office issued Xerox a patent covering this method too, on the ground that it had worked on it first. SCM already was in court charging Xerox with overall patent "misuse"; the Xerox patent award was quickly followed by an Addressograph suit, charging Xerox with antitrust violations. In response, Xerox sued both SCM and Addressograph for patent infringement.

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