LIDL will be able to sell its kitchen robot again, they dismiss the Thermomix lawsuit

The German company LIDL will be able to continue selling its Monsieur Cuisine Connect kitchen robot, the advanced version with touch screen and much more compact of its best-selling kitchen robot after a year of prohibition.

In early 2021, a ruling prohibited Lidl from continuing to sell its Monsieur Cuisine Connect kitchen robot due to what appeared to be an infringement of a Thermomix patent in the ingredient weighing system.

Apparently and after a year of litigation, the magistrates have reviewed said sentence of the Mercantile Judge in Barcelona and agree with Lidl in this case. That is, the machine does not infringe a patent of Vorwerk, the parent company of Thermomix.

The Lidl company not only sought to demonstrate the non-infringement of the patent, but also filed a counterclaim for lack of novelty by patenting an existing functionality in machines of other brands marketed before Monsieur Cuisine. This point has been taken into account on this occasion by the magistrates of the 15th section of the Barcelona Court.

This kitchen robot is much more compact than its predecessor and allows you to weigh the ingredients directly in the glass as well as display recipes step by step on its touch screen. The Lidl machine offers similar functionalities at a price that is around a third of the price of the Thermomix.

In fact Vorwerk claimed a 10% of the ventas of Monsieur Cuisine by way of compensation. for now Lidl will be able to sell its machine again although the case is not closed since Vorwerk may have the option of appealing this sentence before the Supreme Court.

Lidl has shown that not only does it not infringe patents but that its system works differently from that of the Thermomix, both in weighing and in the possibility of opening the lid without stopping stirring previously. As we see a new battle won that allows Lidl keep selling one of their most popular products.