After serveral years of contentious procedures, Swiss justice finally decided not to grant protection, in terms ofthe National Trademark Law, to the popular shapeof Nespresso capsules manufactured by Nestlé.

It should be remembered that these capsules were invented by Eric Favre in the 70’sand were protected until 1996, then Nestlé tried to have them registered and valid indefinitely, in terms ofthe mentioned Law.

Although the multinational company obtained protection in 2000 for a period of ten years, once the stipulated time expired, the invention became part of the public domain, according to what was established by a Swiss civil court who annulled the registration.

In this context, the Ethical Coffee Company, launched biodegradable coffee capsules, very similar to the shape of Nespresso’s capsules, which is why Nestlé attacked its competitors with lawsuits for trademark infringement in Germany and Switzerland.

However, the Swiss court ruled that a shape cannot be registered as a trademark if it must necessarily be used by a competitor who wants to produce a similar product. In this case, capsules compatible with Nespresso coffee machines.

This means that any company can produce capsules in the shape of those of Nespresso and sell them as compatible with the famous coffee machines of that brand.