Coca-Cola must fight off revived claims that its Freestyle drinks dispenser infringes IP owned by a non-practising entity.
An appeals court on Monday revived a lawsuit accusing the Coca-Cola Company of infringing a patent on an internet-enabled soft drink dispenser.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a lower court ruling that Coca-Cola’s Freestyle touchscreen soda fountain did not infringe a patent owned by Rothschild Connected Devices Innovations LLC, a non-practicing entity.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia interpreted key terms in U.S. Patent No. 8,417,377 too narrowly when it ruled against owner Rothschild Connected Devices Innovations LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said.
The Federal Circuit clarified how lower courts should interpret a patent claim describing an apparatus “comprising” various components. The term means the apparatus “includes but is not limited to those components,” the court said.
京公网安备 11010802020770号