The single-serving coffee maker has to rank fairly high on the list of office engineering marvels. After all, who doesn't feel better knowing that a cup of Joe is just 30 seconds away when they're working late on a project? It might be a little watery, but it works in a pinch.
According to lawsuit recently filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, however, one particularly well known purveyor of single-serving technology is having trouble getting their innovations recognized by the government. Reading, Mass.-based Keurig, Inc. filed suit on Dec. 11 against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, claiming officials there had wrongly rejected a patent application on the company's K-Cup coffee filter cartridges.
Keurig's complaint says the company filed a patent application for its cartridges in 2003. It was rejected by a patent examiner in 2008 on the grounds of obviousness, and the decision was affirmed on appeal this year.
But the company's lawyers argue that their "fluted" cartridge design bucked "conventional wisdom in the industry," and does a better job than its competitors of managing coffee making nuances such as flow rate and filter surface area.
"Beverages brewed using flute-filter K-Cups have stronger flavor profiles than beverages brewed using conventional beverage filter cartridges," the complaint argues.
The company is represented by a team from Boston-based Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, including partners Allen Rugg and Michael Albert.
It should be a simple test to see if Keurig's fluted cartridge does indeed produce a stronger flavor profile by making a few cups and comparing it to other machines.
It would probably take a coffee "expert" to make a judgement rather than a patent examiner and that may be a sticking point. The result would be just based on an opinion rather than demonstrable facts supported with mathematical proof.
Posted by: John Carter | March 05, 2010 at 03:12 AM
Keurig should totally be awarded this patent in my opinion. I have owned several coffee makers and my two favorites are my Braun 4 cup coffee maker and you guessed it, my Keurig single-serving coffee maker, which I take to the office.
It makes an excellent cup of jo fast, which is exactly what I need in mid morning and mid afternoon or during some pointless and unproductive meeting.
Companies need to be rewarded for their innovations, after all they invest the time and money on research, why shouldn't Keurig be awarded this patent?
Posted by: Babyliss hair dryer | December 20, 2009 at 03:07 PM