Staples and HP have been sued by a California man, who accuses the two of price-fixing. Ranjit Bedi claims that HP approached Staples, asking that the company stop selling third party ink cartridges for HP printers. In turn, Bedi claims, Staples was given over $100 million in market development funds to only sell HP ink cartridges- and for a higher price than normal. We’re not sure how Bedi came up with the $100 million price tag, but that’s what was filed in court documents.

Bedi hopes his allegations will lead to a class action lawsuit. It’s a bad sign, however, that these accusations so far seem constrained to the blog world, as no mainstream media is reporting on it. That may not bode well for Mr. Bedi’s chances of success. To top things off, Staples seems to have made no changes in its agreement with HP since the suit was filed, still only selling HP brand ink cartridges for HP printers on its website.