The Nestle court hearing in Düsseldorf ended unsuccessfully for the world's largest food manufacturer. The court rejected Nestlé's request to temporarily ban competitors from making coffee capsules compatible with Nespresso coffee machines.
Nestlé, still a monopoly in the capsule coffee market, went to court immediately after several coffee companies began to produce their product in capsules compatible with Nestlé's Nespresso coffee machines. These companies include Master Blenders 1753, Betron D. E. and Ethical Coffee. Nestlé considered this to violate its intellectual property rights.
It should be noted that the release of this coffee machine last year brought the company 3.5 million Swiss francs, which accounts for about 4% of Nestlé's total revenue. And Nespresso's sales grew by 20% every year. Considering all this, as well as the fact that the new capsules are much cheaper, it is understandable that one of the largest food manufacturers is indignant.
However, the Dusseldorf court refused to satisfy the claim of the Nestlé company in view of the fact that it did not find any clauses in the company's patents indicating the right to manufacture capsules for Nespresso machines exclusively by Swiss companies. In the opinion of the court, capsules are not a key component of the coffee machine and are not entitled to separate protection. The court also noted that with the purchase of this equipment, the buyer acquires all the rights to it, which allows him to independently decide which capsules should be used.
After such a decision, the shares of Nestle in Zurich fell by 1.1%, but by the end of trading they rose again to 0.6%. According to well-known analysts, this hearing is only the beginning of the "capsule war" flaring up. Indeed, representatives of Nestlé have already announced that they are going to appeal this court decision, as they are confident in their arguments and the need to protect intellectual property.
