Hot potato: McCain sues rival in patent infringement suit

McCain Foods has sued a rival company in a patent infringement suit centring on the sale of frozen potato products.

McCain filed its suit against food group JR Simplot at the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Tuesday, February 21.

The suit centres on US patent number 6,821,540, called “Process for treating vegetables and fruit before cooking”, and design patent number D720,916 (pdf), called “Root vegetable product”.

The ‘540 patent was registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2004 and the ‘916 was published in 2015.

According to the suit, Simplot uses a process that has infringed one or more claims of the ‘540 patent.

The ‘540 patent is directed to a “pulsed electric field (PEF) process for treating vegetables and/or fruit before cooking in order to reduce their resistance to cutting”.

Simplot, according to the suit, uses the PEF process in its US plants to process potato products.

Additionally, McCain argued that Simplot’s Sidewinders product has infringed its ‘916 patent.

On the company’s website, the product is described as: “Sidewinders fries are bigger than ever ... Their unique shape, fun plating potential and bold, on-trend flavours will attract attention as a one-of-a-kind dining experience.”

The Sidewinders product has been sold since 2013, according to the suit, which added that the product “uses the same design claimed in the ‘916 patent”.

McCain asked for permanent injunctive relief, actual, statutory and compensatory damages, triple damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs, expenses, attorneys’ fees and a jury trial.

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