Court rules against Keurig in Patent Dispute

Court rules against Keurig in Patent Dispute

The U.S District Court in Boston came to a ruling yesterday regarding the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Rogers Family Co. against Keurig, a Reading-based manufacturer of coffee brewers that is a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

Rogers Family Co, a coffee company located in California, launched the OneCup line in 2011. The OneCup is a single-serve coffee cartridge widely used amongst consumers, many of whom make their OneCup coffee in Keurig brewers. Keurig filed the lawsuit last year, claiming that the OneCup infringed on three of their patents.

The court decided that the overall appearance of the OneCup cartridge was distinctly different from Keurig’s, and that one of the contested features was “purely ornamental.” While this ruling is great news for a small, family-based company like Rogers, it marks a step back for Keurig and their business activities. Winning this patent suit would have enabled them to gain a greater foothold in the market for single-serve coffee cartridges.

We are obviously disappointed in the ruling,” a Keurig spokeswoman said in a statement. “However, we continue to evaluate our options to determine the best path forward with respect to this dispute.” (BBJ, Sacramento Business Journal)

Keurig lost a patent lawsuit against the makers of Rogers OneCup single-serve coffee, claiming the California company infringed its patents.

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