Keurig to use DRM to lock out unlicensed refill pods
Keurig maker Green Mountain Coffee Roasters plans to make its new range of single-serve machines work exclusively with own licensed pods. Court documents reveal that Keurig is seeking to secure the lucrative refill market via a DRM-style technique in a similar fashion to printer manufacturers. This follows the Keurig K-Cup pod patent expiration in 2013, which opened the doors for other manufacturers to produce their own pods. While the technology behind the new DRM-like feature remains under wraps, the move is seen as a work around for the expired patent and is likely to be in place by 2015. The lawsuit, filed by TreeHouse Foods, also alleges that the company has been brokering exclusionary agreements with its suppliers to try to block third-party manufacturers from the market.