Keurig Brews Up a Patent Infringement Lawsuit over Knock-off "K-cups"

Submitted by patentadmin on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 10:30

November 3, 2011 - Keurig, the company known for its single-serve coffeemakers, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Rogers Family Co. alleging that the latter's OneCup product infringes two Keurig patents.

Keurig claims that Rogers is violating the two patents by selling single-serving containers, called OneCup and sold under the company's San Francisco Bay brand, that work with Keurig machines and are much less expensive than K-cups. Furthermore, the plaintiff alleges that Rogers is liable for the acts of patent infringement committed by end users who brew up the Rogers coffee in Keurig coffeemakers.

This lawsuit follows a trademark infringement suit filed last month in which Keurig and Wolfgang Puck were sued over their "Jamaica Me Crazy" coffee. Flavor Dynamics, a New Jersey-based coffee company, says the Keurig product infringes its trademark on "Jamaican Me Crazy" coffee.

Flavor Dynamics seeks $1 million in damages alone, and claims its reputation has been damaged by dissatisfied coffee drinkers who posted videos on YouTube giving their product bad reviews when the product they really mean to bash is the Keurig/Puck coffee.