Nestlé Loses Bid to Block Rival Coffee Capsules
Michael Chen
Senior Web Developer
A German court has ruled against Nestlé, the world’s biggest food company, in its attempt to stop companies from selling generic coffee capsules compatible with Nespresso machines in Germany.
Nestlé’s patents for the coffee machine system do not prevent consumers from using other capsules, the Düsseldorf regional court said Thursday. The capsules are not the key component or a “special feature” of the protected invention, the judges said.
Nespresso faces increased competition as food companies like D.E Master Blenders 1753 seek to sell single-serve capsules that can be used with Nespresso machines. The court’s decisions arose in Nestlé’s suits against Ethical Coffee and Betron.
Nestlé, which had asked for a preliminary injunction, can ask the court to hear the case under full civil-trial process in an effort to get a different decision and can also appeal the ruling.
“We are convinced of the power of our legal arguments and will thus take further steps to defend our intellectual property,” Holger Feldmann, managing director of Nestlé’s German Nespresso unit, said in a statement.
Master Blenders markets its L’Or capsules in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, while Ethical Coffee’s capsules are available in at least 10 countries including Austria and Germany. Both Betron and Ethical Coffee are selling capsules that say they are “usable for Nespresso machines” at prices that are as much as a third cheaper than the Nestlé capsules, the court said. (A single Nespresso capsule costs about 55 to 65 cents.)
“Since the buyer acquires the right to use the machine, there is no patent violation when he uses capsules of other producers,” it said.
Source: nytimes.com/2012/08/17/business/nestle-loses-bid-to-prevent-sales-of-rival-coffee-capsules.html?_r=1
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