Cup&Cino wins with Boehmert & Boehmert in dispute over milk frothers

Cup&Cino owns three patents protecting technology for milk frothers. EP 3 398 487 protects a “method and device for producing milk foam”, EP 3 281 569 covers a “modular foam unit” and EP 3 610 762 a “device for treating a liquid, in particular milk, with integrated rinsing system and method for rinsing”. The German patent holder accuses its competitor Alpina Coffee Systems of infringing these patents and sued the Austrian company at the UPC.

Initially Cup&Cino applied for a preliminary injunction at the local division in Vienna referring to EP 487. The judges’ panel around presiding judge Walter Schober rejected the PI application in autumn 2023.

The patent holder then launched an infringement action against Alpina at the local division Düsseldorf in September 2024. The court has now found that Alpina’s milk frother infringes EP 487 and at the same time dismissed the counterclaim for revocation, thus upholding the patent.

The judges’ bench included presiding judge Ronny Thomas, legally qualified judges Bérénice Thom and András Kupecz and technically qualified judge Lorenzo Parrini. The judges issued an injunction, ordering among other things the recall and destruction of the products. However, they excluded advertising materials from the destruction (case IDs: UPC_CFI_519/2024 and UPC_CFI_64/2025). Judge Kupecz had also been on the panel in Vienna that dismissed the PI application.

The day after the decision, Alpina filed an appeal in Luxembourg (case ID: UPC-COA-0000044/2026). The case regarding the other two patents will be heard by the second panel of the local division Düsseldorf under presiding judge Thom in the summer.

Counsel moves to UPC

Patent owner Cup&Cino relied on a team from Boehmert & Boehmert. The IP firm has advised the client before, albeit in trademark matters rather than patent litigation. Michael Rüberg led the case at the UPC together with Martin Wirtz. They cooperated with patent attorneys Tarik Kapić and patent engineer Simon Janssen of Swiss IP firm Bovard, which advised on the technical side.

In the previous PI proceedings in Vienna, Austrian litigator Thomas Adocker, who was then a partner at Taylor Wessing, represented Cup&Cino. Adocker moved to the UPC central division Munich as a legally qualified judge at the start of this month.

Defendant Alpina relied on its long-standing patent attorney firm Torggler & Hofmann, without involving litigators. The Innsbruck-based team around Florian Robl and Markus Gangl represented the Austrian client in the previous PI proceedings in Vienna. This time patent attorney Martin Schwingshackl assisted.