February 26: Europe’s leading canmaking firms are studying a ruling last week in the European Patent Office (EPO) that will require the use of their cans for wine to be licensed from an Australian winery.
In 2005, Barokes Wines developed a process for packaging wine in aluminium cans and bottles, which includes the method of producing the wine to a precise specification, a specialised filling process and the use of internal coatings for wine.
In last week’s hearing at the EPO in The Hague, Ball, Crown and Rexam were among ten companies that had challenged the patent.
