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takemikazuchi | 11 years ago

Perhaps Keurig should print their logo onto the cups with said special ink, and the machine should identify the logo with an image matching algorithm. If I understand trademark law correctly, competitors wouldn't be able to reproduce the Keurig logo without the strong possibility of facing repercussions for trademark infringement. I mean in reality it wouldn't work well at all and just make consumers pissed, but I wonder what the legal situation would be if they could pull it off.

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nacs|11 years ago

Even if they print an entire logo in the ink, someone could sell some kind of reusable sticker with that special-ink-logo and just stick it onto the non-Keurig cups during use. When finished with 1 cup, remove sticker and stick it on to a different cup.

I don't see why they even bother trying to lock down their machines TBH as it can't be done well without significantly increasing the cost of the machine or cups (or inconveniencing existing customers).

I have a Keurig (non-DRM) and buy mostly Keurig branded cups anyway but if I had to buy one of these "2.0" machines with DRM, I'd just not buy a Keurig machine.

anon4|11 years ago

Or put the sticker over the sensor. Or hotwire the sensor (caution: voids your warranty).

nicholassmith|11 years ago

Somewhere a Keurig engineer has gone 'shit'. As far as I know the law for Europe, you're not allowed to use another companies logo form on a commercial product without prior agreement, which is why clothing houses like to heavily brand their items as they can't prevent a competitor from stealing the cut of the item but they can prevent them from using a logo.

electromagnetic|11 years ago

Exactly this. Lululemon, TNA, Guess, whatever all make sure their logo is clearly visible for the very reason the design itself isn't patentable, but you make the logo the selling feature.