Nespresso v. Denner: Federal court decision pending
The Federal Supreme Court will issue a decision next week in the coffee capsule dispute between Nespresso and Denner, the court announced on Monday. At issue is the precautionary sales ban against Denner that Nespresso and Nestlé unsuccessfully requested from the St. Gallen Commercial Court.
In January had Nespresso and Nestlé the St. Gallen Commercial Court to prohibit Denner from selling its Nespresso-compatible capsules as a precautionary measure. The Commercial Court rejected this in Marchafter initially imposing a superprovisional sales ban on Denner. In addition, it allowed the company to include the words "Compatible with Nespresso machines" in small print in its advertising and on the packaging of its capsules. Nespresso and Nestlé appealed against the negative decision of the St. Gallen Commercial Court to the Federal Supreme Court, which will now rule on the case in a public hearing on June 28. Nespresso and Nestlé are basing their request for measures on trademark law and the Unfair Competition Act (UCA).
If the Federal Court rejects Nespresso's current complaint, Denner will be allowed to continue selling its capsules until a decision is made in the main case. Denner has not yet been confronted with Nespresso's main complaint, Denner spokeswoman Nicole Schöwel told news agency SDA on Monday. At the beginning of the year, Nespresso had also tried to obtain a precautionary sales ban against Denner for patent infringement at the Zurich Commercial Court. The request was also rejected.
