UPDATE 2-P&G again sues Kraft over plastic coffee containers
(Adds comment from Kraft)
CHICAGO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) is again suing Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N), claiming Kraft's new plastic Maxwell House coffee container infringes on patents Procter holds for its Folgers coffee brand.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, comes 13 months after P&G sued Kraft for allegedly violating patents on plastic coffee containers. That case is still pending. In the new lawsuit, P&G is specifically calling out Kraft's new four-pound plastic container for Maxwell House coffee.
The latest suit comes as P&G is set to sell Folgers, the largest U.S. coffee business, to The J.M. Smucker Co (SJM.N).
P&G started selling Folgers coffee in plastic containers in 2003. The company claims the new packaging has helped boost sales for Folgers over the past five years.
P&G seeks to have Kraft stopped from selling Maxwell House coffee in the plastic package and seeks recovery of damages. A P&G spokeswoman declined to comment on the specific amount of monetary damages the company is seeking.
"We have not had a chance to review this lawsuit but Kraft does not infringe the valid patent rights of others," a Kraft spokeswoman said. "We will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter."
In August 2007, P&G sued Kraft in U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. According to a document filed with that court in April, P&G and Kraft engaged in private mediation in March. The companies did not reach an agreement at the mediation, which was an attempt to resolve the first case, as well as a separate patent infringement case filed by Kraft against P&G.
The new lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati. (Reporting by Jessica Wohl; Editing by Andre Grenon, Richard Chang)
