Coca-Cola Faces Receptive Federal Circuit at Patent Argument

Coca-Cola Co.‘s argument that it didn’t infringe a drink dispenser patent because users don’t communicate directly with its machine may have resonated with a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit.

The patent, owned by Rothschild Connective Devices Innovations LLC, requires direct communication, Judge Timothy B. Dyk said. Someone using Coca-Cola’s Freestyle Dispenser system communicates with the machine via phone app.

The argument Monday was among the first the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit conducted by telephone as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

Rothschild alleged Coca-Cola’s machine and accompanying phone app infringed its U.S. ...