• September 17, 2007

Procter & Gamble has upped the ante in its lawsuit against Kraft, filed on Aug. 27--alleging that the latter company infringed on P&G's Folgers brand by using a plastic container for Maxwell House coffee.

The company has filed a legal motion for a preliminary injunction in the patent lawsuit against Kraft. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. The new motion allows the district court to intervene to stop what P&G says is continued and further infringement of its patent.

In the latest motion, P&G states that the Folgers brand faces irreparable harm from Kraft's continued infringement. P&G requests court action to stop Kraft from continuing to manufacture and distribute Maxwell House coffee in their plastic containers, per the company.

P&G introduced the plastic canister for Folgers ground roast coffee in 2003. The company says the package drove sales and that U.S. consumers preferred it over any other package.

"We believe this is a case of clear infringement designed to take advantage of the consumer goodwill and business growth that P&G developed through its patented innovation on the Folgers brand," says Jim Johnson, P&G chief legal officer, in a release.

"We are asking the court for a preliminary injunction because this is such a serious case of patent infringement. We must protect the intellectual property of P&G brands," he says.

--Karl Greenberg