Patent ID: 8042894

Claim:
A method of managing an apparatus that uses a consumable item of a given type, the method comprising: setting the apparatus to operate in a first mode in which the apparatus is restricted to only being able to work with a subset of consumable items of said given type; and determining when the apparatus has reached a predetermined time or usage threshold for being in its first mode, and thereupon causing the apparatus to be set to operate in a second mode in which the apparatus is not restricted to working with consumable items of said subset, wherein: a remote system, in response to the apparatus being determined as having reached said predetermined time or usage threshold, stores a release code to a consumable item; and the consumable item in which the release code is stored, is subsequently installed for use with said apparatus, and the apparatus upon determining that said release code is stored in this consumable item, sets itself to operate in its second mode.