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Procter & Gamble File Lawsuit Against Luhns GmbH, Germany

^{Published on 2011-07-08 16:51:01 - Market Wire}
 

LONDON--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) filed yesterday a lawsuit against Luhns GmbH, a private-label manufacturer and distributor of Hand Dish Washing liquids, in the District Court of Dsseldorf, Germany (Landgericht Dsseldorf). The lawsuit alleges that Luhns GmbH is violating P&G's intellectual property by manufacturing and selling certain Magnuma" private label Hand Dish Washing detergents to a retailer in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"By filing a law suit against Luhns we are taking steps to protect this investment, ensuring that consumers are not being confused."

[ P&G ] alleges that Luhns's dish detergent products, specifically the bottle shape and its overall product appearance, infringe P&G's European Community Design Rights relating to its FAIRY Hand Dish Washing liquids. Luhns's use of P&G's intellectual property without P&G's consent is prohibited by law, and can cause consumer confusion. P&G is suing Luhns in order to protect its business and to prevent consumer confusion in the marketplace.

P&G takes pride in developing [ FAIRY ] products that deliver the highest level of quality for consumers who have trusted the branda™s performance for over 50 years. FAIRY is the UK market leader in Hand Dish Washing and takes great pride in its long standing relationship with consumers. FAIRY welcomes competition in the marketplace, however it is keen to ensure that consumers are not in any way misled by competitive brandsa™ presentation of products.

aP&G has made significant investments in the innovations behind our FAIRY Hand Dish Washing liquids. We take the intellectual property rights protecting these innovations very seriously.a said Deborah P. Majoras, Chief Legal Officer, The Procter & Gamble Company. aBy filing a law suit against Luhns we are taking steps to protect this investment, ensuring that consumers are not being confused.a

The lawsuit seeks to stop Luhns from violating P&G's intellectual property and selling the infringing products.

About Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)

Four 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®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®. Bounty®, FAIRY®, Gain®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun® and Fusion®.

The P&G community includes approximately 127,000 employees working in about 80 countries worldwide. Please visit [ http://www.pg.com ] for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.