Shots fired: Swiss firm Ethical Coffee Company fights Nestle over coffee capsules

A COFFEE company is suing Nestle over its bid to keep competitors’ capsules out of its popular Nespresso machines.

George Clooney on the set of the new Nespresso commercial in Milan, Italy..

SWISS firm Ethical Coffee Company has lodged a complaint in a Paris court against Nestle for patent infringement with its Nespresso coffee machines.

Ethical, which makes coffee capsules that can be used in Nespresso machines, said in a statement that it had suffered losses of at least 150 million euros ($A225 million) since 2010 as a result of the move.

Nestle, the world’s leading food company, has a lion’s share of the multi-billion dollar single-serving coffee market.

Nestle is accused by ECC of modifying the Nespresso machines to keep competitors’ capsules out of them with a “harpoon” device in its new Pixie range which jams the capsules.

ECC said this move went against its patent.

Nestle is accused of modifying the Nespresso machines to keep competitors’ capsules out.

The company added that a decision by the Paris court would only apply to the ECC patent violation in France, but it could launch similar legal action in other countries.

Nespresso denies any patent infringement and says it will fight the case in court.

In June last year, ECC won a legal suit against Nespresso in France when a Paris trade tribunal ruled against the giant in an unfair competition suit filed in 2012.

It ordered Nespresso to pay 500,000 euros to ECC and 40,000 euros more to cover legal fees.

Jean-Paul Gaillard, chairman and chief executive of Ethical Coffee, helped create the single-dose coffee market as chief executive of Nespresso.

He then launched the cheaper Ethical brand to counter Nespresso, which is aimed at more top-end consumers.

After a sluggish start following its launch in 1986, Nespresso suddenly took off in the late 1990s, fuelled by an advertisement blitz featuring Hollywood superstar George Clooney.