DYMO Corporation

Dymo Industries, Inc. was founded in 1958 to produce handheld tools that use embossing tape. The embossing tape and handheld plastic embossing labeler was invented by David Souza from Oakland, California.

Dymo was acquired by Esselte in 1978, and battery-powered printers became a major product after 1990. On June 1, 1998, CoStar Corporation, the manufacturer of the LabelWriter brand of thermal label printers, was acquired by Esselte Office Products. Although CoStar remained independent at first, it would later be folded into Dymo, initially as Dymo-CoStar, and later simply as Dymo, dropping the "CoStar" moniker altogether.

The Dymo Corporation would later be sold to Newell Rubbermaid in 2005.

Criticism

The LabelWriter 550 and 5XL has an RFID reader that reads RFID tags embedded in Dymo genuine label rolls to automatically detect the label type inside. However, this is also to prevent the use of third-party compatible label rolls, a form of digital rights management similar to inkjet printer cartridges and laser printer cartridges containing a chip to prevent the designing and manufacturing of third-party cartridges. Dymo has received criticism for using a razor and blades model by forcing customers to purchase genuine Dymo label rolls.