When the patents on Kraft’s Country Time Lemonade and Kool Aid brand drink mixes were targeted in a lawsuit in June 2010, Foley & Lardner’s Jeanne Gills saw the case as an opportunity to get a foot in the door. The firm had already been handling labor and employment matters for Kraft Foods Inc. and had helped out with the occasional “one-off IP project,” says Gills. As vice-chair of the firm’s national intellectual property department, Gills saw a chance to make a lasting impression.
The lawsuit was filed by a qui tam plaintiff in Missouri after a federal district court ruled that companies could be penalized $500 for every item marked with an expired, or otherwise false, patent. With such high-volume products as those at stake, Gills says, “even a penny a product or a fraction of a penny can get you to a large number very quickly.”
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