P&G takes patent infringement row with Kraft to Ohio

25 September 2008 | By Popsop Team

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has taken its patent infringement dispute with Kraft Foods over its Maxwell House Coffee brand packaging to court in the state of Ohio.

P&G has filed a patent lawsuit in the United States Federal District Court for the Southern State of Ohio against the manufacturer of the Maxwell House Coffee brand for infringing P&G patents on Folgers Coffee.

Folgers introduced its own plastic coffee container with an easy-to-use handle in 2003, which claims P&G has “grown the Folgers business for the past five years”.

P&G wants to stop Maxwell House from selling the new four-pound plastic container, recently introduced across the US, and the recovery of damages from Kraft Foods.

P&G chief legal officer Steve Jemison said P&G had made “large investments to overcome the technical challenges in making a lightweight plastic container that can withstand the pressure changes that occur between the factory and the consumer’s home”.

In August 2007 P&G filed a similar claim against Maxwell House in the US Federal District Court in San Francisco for allegedly infringing patents on its Folgers Coffee range.