Competitor ‘cracks’ security on coffee cups

Canadian coffee manufacturer Club Coffee claims it has broken the security on coffee cups of competitor Keurig. The invisible ink protection was supposed to prevent users from using non-Keurig cups in Keurig’s coffee maker.

Recently, the company released the Keurig 2.0, a coffee maker that only accepted Keurig pods. The Club Coffee company decided to investigate which system Keurig uses for its so-called K-cups, which have significant margins.

Upon closer inspection, the Keurig 2.0 was found to be reading a hidden code on the K-cup. These codes are printed on the cups with invisible ink. By means of a diode, the coffee maker reads the code on the cover foil of an original cup with infrared light and only then makes coffee. Cups of competitors are refused, Canadian public broadcaster CBC reports.

Club Coffee, after its discovery, decided to turn to a printer that prints polymer banknotes for the Bank of Canada. There he was able to determine the exact composition of the ink. The company managed to put the Keurig 2.0 to work with other cups. The ink used would be widely commercially available.

According to Club Coffee, it has shared its “hack” with other coffee manufacturers so that they can also develop alternative cups for the device. According to the company, there can be no patents on Keurig’s system, because light frequencies are not patentable. In addition, a number of coffee manufacturers have started a lawsuit against Keurig, because the company allegedly abused its dominant market position.

A spokesperson for the American coffee manufacturer does not want to comment further on the matter, but does state that his Keurig 2.0 can only make ‘optimal’ coffee with its own K-cups. In Canada, the American coffee manufacturer Keurig is said to have a market share for coffee cups of almost 90 percent.