GENEVA (AP) — Food and drinks giant Nestle has won a legal battle in its war with Swiss rival Denner over the distribution of coffee capsules made to fit its best-selling line of Nespresso coffee machines.
Switzerland's Federal Tribunal in Lausanne on Tuesday ruled that Nestle had unjustly been denied the right to be heard by a lower court when it asked for supermarket chain Denner's capsules to be banned for infringing the Vevey-based company's intellectual property.
This means the rival capsules will have to be taken off store shelves in Switzerland until the commercial court in the eastern city of St. Gallen revisits the case.
Nestle has been fiercely defending its lucrative Nespresso business around the world. Last year sales passed 3 billion francs ($3.6 billion) worldwide.
