Antitrust enforcement would also help. Also anti-competitive patent cross-licensing agreements create a virtual cartel of printer companies. The patent deals s

Antitrust enforcement would also help. Also anti-competitive patent cross-licensing agreements create a virtual cartel of printer companies. The patent deals started with HP, Canon and IBM having a cross-license. Lexmark inherited that deal and was able to enter the market after it spun out from IBM but took the printer patent licenses with it. Things evolved a lot since then, but the same tactics are employed to keep out new entrants.