Senseo
Encyclopedia
Senseo is a registered trademark
for a coffee
brewing system from Dutch
companies Philips
and Douwe Egberts
, a subsidiary
of Sara Lee Corporation. The three main characteristics of the system are its coffee pod
s (called pads in some countries), its design and its easy to use system.
in February 2001, followed by Belgium
and France
, Germany
/Austria
/and Denmark
, United Kingdom
and United States
, and Australia
(in chronological order). The Senseo was technically developed by WeLL Design. According to Philips, by 2005 ten million machines and four billion pads had been sold worldwide, by 2008, it was over 20 million machines.
A new model of the Senseo machine – the Senseo New Generation – was launched in selected markets in 2007. This updated version allows the user to adjust the height of the mechanism to accommodate larger cups or mugs, has an indicator light function which shows when there is insufficient water for two cups (as opposed to the previous model which only showed whether there was sufficient water left for one cup), features a larger water reservoir and has an option which allows the user to adjust the amount of hot water used per cup.
The Senseo Latte Select machine was introduced in 2008, and features a separate milk reservoir. The machine utilizes the same coffee pods, and can produce three different variants of coffee with foam milk: Cappucino, Café Latte
and Latte macchiato
. The three variants are not true brews though, as the machine cannot produce real espresso
, but rather regular coffee, which is mixed with the foam milk. The machine can also produce regular coffee, and features three different strength settings.
In 2009 the Senseo Quadrante was introduced which features a new brick like design. The coffee pods are still the same, however the pod holder is designed differently. The Quadrante series also features a bigger water tank and allows the use of higher mugs through its three different mounting positions of the cup holder.
variety. The blends differ, according to general taste, in different countries. The special blends, Colombia, Kenya and Brazil are blended from arabica
coffees from selected plantations and are a little more expensive than the normal blends. There are also coffee pods with added flavors, called Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, Sevilla & Marrackech. More recent varieties launched in selected European markets include cappuccino, café choco and espresso. Douwe Egberts Senseo has launched a Hot Choco variety in Belgium and the Netherlands. Latest launches in Germany are the Guten Morgen breakfast blend and Caffé Crema, an Italian blend. In France, Maison du café Senseo has launched Noir Subtil.
with the aim "to protect an assembly of pad holder and pad", i.e. the Senseo coffee pods, was filed on September 30, 1998 by the Dutch firm "Sara Lee/DE N.V." The European Patent Office
granted on July 11, 2001. The European patent took force in a number of Contracting States of the European Patent Convention
, including Belgium.
On February 20, 2004, the Court of First Instance of Antwerp, Belgium
, ruled in a lawsuit
between three Belgian coffee vendors, N.V.
Fort Koffiebranderij, S.A.
Cafés Liégeois and N.V. Beyers Koffie, versus Philips and Douwe Egberts over the European patent, and decided that the other coffee vendors were allowed to produce and market coffee pods that fit the Senseo. The Senseo creators had used their patent to get an injunction against the marketing of coffee pods by other coffee brands, and those others replied by seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement
.
One consideration the Belgian judge offered for the ruling is that coffee pods already existed. That ruling ended the Senseo coffee pod monopoly, and following that ruling, practically every coffee vendor in the Benelux
countries started production of coffee pods. The Antwerp ruling affects the patents on the pods, but does not affect the patents on the Senseo machine itself.
An appeal in court changed this patent matter, and the new judgement was that the other coffee makers were infringing on the European patent in Belgium.
In the meantime, the European patent was opposed before the European Patent Office
by a number of companies including Kraft Foods and, on August 30, 2006, Sara Lee's covering the Senseo pads was completely revoked on appeal
by the European Patent Office. Suzanne Rotteveel, spokeswoman for Sara Lee in the Netherlands, said:
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
for a coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
brewing system from Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
companies Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
and Douwe Egberts
Douwe Egberts
Douwe Egberts is a Dutch corporation that processes and trades coffee, tea, and other groceries. Its full name is Douwe Egberts Koninklijke Tabaksfabriek-Koffiebranderijen-Theehandel NV, which translates as "Douwe Egberts Royal Tobacco Factory - Coffee Roasters - Tea Traders, Plc."...
, a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Sara Lee Corporation. The three main characteristics of the system are its coffee pod
Coffee pod
Coffee pods are pre-packaged ground coffee beans in their own filter. In certain non-English speaking countries, such as Germany and The Netherlands, the word "pad" is used instead of "pod", for semantic reasons....
s (called pads in some countries), its design and its easy to use system.
History
The system was first introduced in the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in February 2001, followed by Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
/Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
/and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(in chronological order). The Senseo was technically developed by WeLL Design. According to Philips, by 2005 ten million machines and four billion pads had been sold worldwide, by 2008, it was over 20 million machines.
A new model of the Senseo machine – the Senseo New Generation – was launched in selected markets in 2007. This updated version allows the user to adjust the height of the mechanism to accommodate larger cups or mugs, has an indicator light function which shows when there is insufficient water for two cups (as opposed to the previous model which only showed whether there was sufficient water left for one cup), features a larger water reservoir and has an option which allows the user to adjust the amount of hot water used per cup.
The Senseo Latte Select machine was introduced in 2008, and features a separate milk reservoir. The machine utilizes the same coffee pods, and can produce three different variants of coffee with foam milk: Cappucino, Café Latte
Latte
A latte is a coffee drink made with espresso and steamed milk. Variants include replacing the coffee with another drink base such as masala chai, mate or matcha...
and Latte macchiato
Latte macchiato
Latte Macchiato is a coffee beverage, which literally means stained milk. This refers to the method of preparation, wherein the steamed "pure" white milk gets "stained" by the addition of espresso.- Related drinks :...
. The three variants are not true brews though, as the machine cannot produce real espresso
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
, but rather regular coffee, which is mixed with the foam milk. The machine can also produce regular coffee, and features three different strength settings.
In 2009 the Senseo Quadrante was introduced which features a new brick like design. The coffee pods are still the same, however the pod holder is designed differently. The Quadrante series also features a bigger water tank and allows the use of higher mugs through its three different mounting positions of the cup holder.
Aftermarket Products
Some aftermarket products allow consumers to use ground coffee in a Senseo coffee maker and avoid the higher cost of single-serve pods. The "Coffeeduck" is a durable filter that can be filled with coffee and placed in the Senseo machine to brew a cup of coffee (one Coffeeduck can be re-used thousands of times). There is also a device that allows one to make paper coffee pods with any chosen ground coffee. Because these aftermarket products work best with coffee that is more finely ground than for typical drip coffee-makers, consumers should grind their own coffee or use cans or bricks of more finely-ground Cuban-style coffee (such as Pilon, Bustelo or La Llave).Blends
The main blends are mild, regular, mocca, dark roast and extra dark and there is also a decaffeinatedDecaffeination
Decaffeination is the act of removing caffeine from coffee beans, cocoa, tea leaves and other caffeine-containing materials. Despite removal of caffeine, many decaffeinated drinks still have around 1-2% of the...
variety. The blends differ, according to general taste, in different countries. The special blends, Colombia, Kenya and Brazil are blended from arabica
Coffea arabica
Coffea arabica is a species of Coffea originally indigenous to the mountains of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, hence its name, and also from the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee"...
coffees from selected plantations and are a little more expensive than the normal blends. There are also coffee pods with added flavors, called Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, Sevilla & Marrackech. More recent varieties launched in selected European markets include cappuccino, café choco and espresso. Douwe Egberts Senseo has launched a Hot Choco variety in Belgium and the Netherlands. Latest launches in Germany are the Guten Morgen breakfast blend and Caffé Crema, an Italian blend. In France, Maison du café Senseo has launched Noir Subtil.
Patent matters
A European patent applicationEuropean Patent Convention
The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention , is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted...
with the aim "to protect an assembly of pad holder and pad", i.e. the Senseo coffee pods, was filed on September 30, 1998 by the Dutch firm "Sara Lee/DE N.V." The European Patent Office
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation , the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the Organisation while the Administrative Council acts as its supervisory body as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative...
granted on July 11, 2001. The European patent took force in a number of Contracting States of the European Patent Convention
European Patent Convention
The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention , is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted...
, including Belgium.
On February 20, 2004, the Court of First Instance of Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, ruled in a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
between three Belgian coffee vendors, N.V.
Naamloze Vennootschap
is the Dutch term for a public limited liability company. The company is owned by shareholders, and the company's shares are not registered to certain owners, so that they may be traded on the public stock market....
Fort Koffiebranderij, S.A.
S.A. (corporation)
S.A. designates a particular type of corporation in various countries, mostly those employing the civil law. It originated in Spain during the 16th century. Depending on language, the abbreviation stands for various phrases meaning anonymous society, anonymous company, anonymous partnership, or...
Cafés Liégeois and N.V. Beyers Koffie, versus Philips and Douwe Egberts over the European patent, and decided that the other coffee vendors were allowed to produce and market coffee pods that fit the Senseo. The Senseo creators had used their patent to get an injunction against the marketing of coffee pods by other coffee brands, and those others replied by seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement
Patent infringement
Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may vary by jurisdiction, but it typically includes using or...
.
One consideration the Belgian judge offered for the ruling is that coffee pods already existed. That ruling ended the Senseo coffee pod monopoly, and following that ruling, practically every coffee vendor in the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
countries started production of coffee pods. The Antwerp ruling affects the patents on the pods, but does not affect the patents on the Senseo machine itself.
An appeal in court changed this patent matter, and the new judgement was that the other coffee makers were infringing on the European patent in Belgium.
In the meantime, the European patent was opposed before the European Patent Office
Opposition procedure before the European Patent Office
The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office is a post-grant, contentious, inter partes, administrative procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed...
by a number of companies including Kraft Foods and, on August 30, 2006, Sara Lee's covering the Senseo pads was completely revoked on appeal
Appeal procedure before the European Patent Office
Decisions of the first instances of the European Patent Office can be appealed, i.e. challenged, before the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, in a judicial procedure , as opposed to an administrative procedure. These boards act as the final instances in the granting and opposition procedures before the...
by the European Patent Office. Suzanne Rotteveel, spokeswoman for Sara Lee in the Netherlands, said:
See also
- Easy Serving Espresso PodEasy Serving Espresso PodAn Easy Serving Espresso Pod, or E.S.E. pod, is a small packed coffee disk with a paper filter covering.Each pod contains seven grams of coffee compressed into a food safe filter package. A double serving contains 14 grams of coffee. Pods are typically 44-45mm size for E.S.E...
- KeurigKeurigKeurig is a Reading, Massachusetts-based coffee machine manufacturing company, known for its K-Cup single-serving brewing system.- Company :Keurig was founded in 1992 by Olaf Keurig...
- Flavia
- PerfectDraftPerfectDraftPerfectDraft is a beer tapping system from Dutch company Philips and Belgian company InBev. It claims to dispense the best draught. The device is similar to the installations for tapping beer at parties, however it works with special six-liter-kegs. Both Jupiler and Stella Artois and a whole range...
- Razor and blades business model
- NespressoNespressoNespresso is the brand name of Nestlé Nespresso S.A., an operating unit of the Nestlé Group based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Nespresso machines brew espresso from special capsules containing ground coffee.- History :...
- TassimoTassimoThe Tassimo Hot Beverage System is a consumer coffee machine that prepares one-cup servings of espresso, regular coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and various other coffee drinks, notably those including milk such as latte or cappuccino....
- CaffitalyCaffitalyThe Caffitaly System is a capsule system for making espresso and other coffee drinks in home espresso machines...