Procter & Gamble Files Two Infringement Lawsuits

CINCINNATI, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Procter & Gamble Company has filed separate lawsuits against Percara Enterprises, Inc. and Cumberland Swan Holdings, Inc. for trade dress infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition involving several beauty care brands and one oral care brand. In addition, the case against Cumberland Swan includes claims for false advertising. Cumberland Swan Holdings manufactures and distributes private label products to retail stores, while Percara Enterprises sells beauty products under its own company brand name to a variety of retailers.

The suits, filed today in United States Federal District Courts in Ohio, involve Procter & Gamble's Herbal Essences Fruit Fusions(R), Secret(R), Old Spice(R) Red Zone(R) and High Endurance(R) and Pantene(R) brands in the complaint filed against Percara Enterprises, and the Head & Shoulders(R), Pert Plus(R) and Crest Pro-Health(R) brands in the complaint against Cumberland Swan Holdings. P&G seeks to have the distribution of the infringing products by both companies stopped, and will move for a preliminary injunction against Cumberland Swan.

"We believe these are clear cases of infringement, designed to feed on the goodwill of our brands," said Jim Johnson, P&G chief legal officer. "These look-alike products can confuse people and are a disservice to consumers. We are filing this lawsuit to put a stop to it," Johnson added. "Copying our product designs is unfair and violates the law."

The company stated that it has established the quality of its products over many years of effort and expense, and that some of the defendants' products are clearly inferior and do not provide comparable consumer benefits.

About Procter & Gamble

Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella, Gillette(R), and Braun. The P&G community consists of almost 140,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com/ for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.