US 6,658,989 · Granted 2003-12-09

The Reusable Pod That Keurig Patented to Lock Down Single-Serve Brewing

Keurig invented a reusable filter cartridge for single-serve coffee brewers — basically a tiny cup with a built-in filter that holds coffee grounds while hot water pours through and the finished brew drains out the bottom. You fill it, lock on a lid, brew, and reuse it instead of tossing a plastic pod every time.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

What's protected here is a reusable cartridge designed specifically for single-serve beverage brewers. The patent covers the cup-shaped housing with a removable lid, the internal filter that divides the cartridge into two chambers (one for the dry beverage medium, one for the brewed liquid), the inlet port in the lid for heated liquid, and the outlet port at the bottom for dispensing the finished beverage. Anyone making a similar two-chamber filter cartridge with this same arrangement of removable lid, internal divider, and dual ports would infringe on these claims.

Why it matters

This patent protects a key component in Keurig's single-serve brewing ecosystem. By patenting a reusable cartridge design, Keurig locked down a middle ground between fully proprietary disposable pods and open-source brewing — allowing consumers to reuse the cartridge while still controlling the form factor and how liquid flows through the system. This kind of patent is valuable because it extends the company's ecosystem lock-in while presenting a more environmentally friendly option than single-use pods.

Real-world use

Every time someone fills a Keurig reusable pod with their own ground coffee, snaps the lid shut, and watches the brewed coffee drain into their cup, they're using the exact two-chamber, filtered-cartridge design this patent describes.

Original USPTO abstract

For use in a single serve beverage brewer in which a measured charge of a dry beverage medium is infused with a metered amount of heated liquid to produce a beverage medium, a reusable beverage filter cartridge is provided for containing the beverage medium and for accommodating an inflow of the heated liquid and an outflow of the beverage medium. The cartridge comprises a cup-shaped housing having a top opening and a closed bottom with an outlet port. A filter internally subdivides the housing into a first chamber accessible via the top opening and configured and dimensioned to contain the beverage medium, and a second chamber communicating with the outlet port. A lid is removably secured to the housing in a position closing the top opening, and an inlet port in the lid serves to admit heated liquid into the first chamber for infusion with the beverage medium contained therein. The filter is permeable to accommodate a flow therethrough of the resulting beverage into the second chamber from which it exits via the outlet port.

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,658,989
Filing date: 2002-04-03
Grant date: 2003-12-09
Assignee: Keurig, Incorporated
Inventor(s): SWEENEY RICHARD P., LAZARIS NICHOLAS G., BEAULIEU RODERICK H.
CPC class: A47J31/4475

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