CLIO USA: Procter & Gamble Suffers a Legal Setback in its Questionable Patent Claims involving Teeth Whiteners

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., July 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A U.S. District Court judge has indefinitely delayed a trial involving Procter & Gamble's claims that CLIO USA, Inc., a smaller rival in the teeth-whitening market, had infringed on patents Procter & Gamble (P&G) has for whitening strips.

The decision marks a significant setback for P&G in a case that has drawn national attention and could reshape the $386.6 million teeth whitening industry.

Judge Timothy S. Black of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio last week postponed the trial date, scheduled to open August 4.  A decision from a parallel case before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for an Inter Parties Review (IPR) in which CLIO is challenging the validity of P&G's patents, is anticipated to be rendered in September. Earlier this year, the PTAB ruled that there is a "reasonable likelihood" that CLIO would prevail in its case before PTAB.

CLIO executives expressed support for the judge's decision and said they were also confident in the strength of the case that the company has before the PTAB.

"We have said all along that P&G's bullying tactics are not only bad for business, but they are rooted in baseless claims," said Peter Cho, Vice President of CLIO USA, an Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey-based company whose whitening strips sell for as much as $20 less than P&G's Crest 3D White strips.

"By attacking a small company like CLIO, which controls less than 3 percent of the market, P&G opened up a Pandora's Box of outcomes, including the invalidation of patents it claims to own," he continued. "While anticipated all along, it is encouraging to see P&G's strategy boomerang.''

About CLIO USA: CLIO USA, based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., was founded in 2009 with small  entity and manufactures and supplies teeth whitening strips sold under private labels, including Rite-Aid, CVS and K-Mart and Family Dollar.

SOURCE CLIO USA, Inc.