P&G Sues Coke for Infringing on Calcium-FortificationPatent

P&G Sues Coke for Infringing on Calcium-FortificationPatent

CINCINNATI--On May 31, the Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G)filed a patent infringement suit against The Coca-Cola Co.'s Minute Maiddivision from infringing on P&G's patented calcium-supplemented fruitjuices. According to P&G, the technology and composition used in fortifyingthe beverages is exclusively licensed to the company's division, TropicanaProducts Inc.

The suit alleges Minute Maid is infringing on this patent with its"Minute Maid Premium Calcium Rich Home Squeezed Style Orange Juice"and "Minute Maid Premium Calcium Original Orange Juice" products.

P&G is asking for an injunction to stop Minute Maid from furtherinfringement on the patent. The company is also seeking monetary damagesresulting from Minute Maid's current infringement.

"P&G is firmly committed to protecting its proprietary technologiesand will continue to take action to protect those technologies," said MikeGriffith, president of P&G's global beverage division."

Dan Schafer, director of public affairs at Minute Maid, told INSIDERthat the suit is without merit. "We've been making calcium-fortified orangejuice since 1987, and we produce it the same way today that we did backthen," said Schafer, adding that the company uses a process it patented in1989. Minute Maid uses tricalcium phosphate and calcium lactate, which Schafersays is from "different calcium sources from what [P&G] uses, and atotally different process."

According to Suzette Middleton, a spokesperson for Tropicana, the two MinuteMaid juices in question are infringing on Tropicana's 1988 calcium-fortificationpatent, which covers composition and processing. "We just recently, withinthe last few months, discovered that the patent was being infringed," shesaid. "We will obviously protect our intellectual property." Tropicanauses calcium citrate malate in its calcium-fortified products.