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19 August 2019PatentsSarah Morgan

L’Oréal attempts to overturn injunction in hair care patent suit

Cosmetics company L’Oréal is attempting to overturn a permanent injunction imposed by a Delaware judge late last week.

District Judge Joseph Bataillon, of the US District Court for the District of Delaware, ordered L’Oréal on Friday, August 16, to stop making and selling hair colour products that infringe patents owned by competitor Olaplex.

The permanent injunction, which covers nine of L’Oréal products, extends a temporary ban that start-up Olaplex obtained from the court in April this year.

The preliminary injunction was awarded after the court found that the startup had presented evidence showing “actual monetary harm and reputational harm”, whereas L’Oréal didn’t submit any evidence to counter this.

Following the court’s order for a permanent injunction, L’Oréal submitted a notice of appeal to the court, stating that it would be appealing against the injunction to the US Court for Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Earlier this month, a Delaware jury told L’Oréal to pay Olaplex more than $91 million for stealing its trade secrets, infringing two patents and breaching a contract.

Bataillon had previously submitted an order of summary judgment on the patent issues involved in the case. Both of Olaplex’s patents cover a system that protects hair during bleaching treatments.

At the time, Bataillon said: “The court has carefully reviewed the record, including the briefs of the parties and the relevant evidence as well as the legal standards appropriate to these issues. The court concludes that the motion for summary judgment filed by the plaintiffs must be granted.”

The Delaware jury was asked to decide whether the patents were valid—they concluded the patents were valid and therefore had been infringed, awarding Olaplex nearly $47 million for patent infringement.

L’Oréal was also found liable for misappropriating trade secrets and for breaching a confidentiality agreement.

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More on this story

Patents
13 August 2019   A Delaware jury has told beauty company L’Oréal to pay start-up Olaplex more than $91 million for stealing its trade secrets, infringing two patents and breaching a contract.
Patents
21 August 2019   Cosmetics company L’Oréal will need to pay nearly $50 million for infringing patents and misappropriating trade secrets that belong to rival Olaxplex, according to a Delaware judge.
Patents
29 January 2021   Both L'Oréal and Olaplex have failed to convince the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to overturn a decision on keratin treatment patent claims.