Patent Law

Righting Whitening

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

Procter & Gamble sued Johnson & Johnson for patent infringement over Listerine Whitening ® Quick Dissolving Strips, marketed as superior to P&G's Crest Whitestrips ®, because they dissolve more quickly. You wouldn't want to have patience in whitening your teeth, because you need a smoke, or cup of coffee, or some other neurotransmitting tooth-staining jones you can't shuck off, you vain but weak-willed Pavlovian simian.

The strips use a peroxide whitening agent.

The business press reflexively reported miniscule movements in P&G and J&J stock prices the day the complaint was filed (Friday). The unimportant detail of which patents were asserted was not reported, even by P&G. 6,582,708 and 6,949,240 look likely assertion candidates. A copy of the complaint was not available at the time of writing.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on May 04, 2008 (boomark / email).