Dive Brief:

• Nestle Nespresso is under legal fire with a lawsuit from the Ethical Coffee Company (ECC), a third-party coffee capsule maker whose products work with Nespresso's single-serve coffee machines.
• ECC alleges that Nespresso began using a "harpoon mechanism" in 2010, which made ECC's capsules incompatible for the machines - a technology that ECC says it owns the patent for.
• Nestle Nespresso corporate PR director Diane Duperret responded, "Nespresso is confident that it does not infringe the patent in question and will continue to oppose the patent at the European Patent Office and defend ourselves before the French Court."

Dive Insight:

This latest coffee buzz comes just a few months after Nestle Nespresso surrendered to third-party capsule-makers, following the company's attempts to create technology (which it allegedly may not have the patent for) that would make knock-off capsules incompatible with its machines. While Nespresso continues to defend itself and its technologies, it appears this epic battle for the single-serve coffee crown is nowhere near done.

Nestle was also in the news last week as it prepares to invest $138 million in Egypt, which will go toward manufacturing, new products, and the nutrition and health industries. Political tensions in the region have not stopped Nestle's pursuits, and the company may in fact be inspired by the government's vow to ease investor's efforts to effectively operate in the country.