L’Oreal claims Coppertone, Neutrogena violate patents

L’Oreal SA, the French beauty-care company, sued the owners of Coppertone and Neutrogena, claiming their sunscreens use its patented ingredients.

L’Oreal accused Merck & Co., the maker of Coppertone, and Johnson & Johnson, which owns Neutrogena Corp., of patent infringement in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Jan. 27.

The “acts of infringement have caused and will continue to cause damage to L’Oreal,” the Paris-based company said in court papers. L’Oreal claims it has patented a mixture of compounds that help stabilize its sunscreen. That mixture appears in so- called avobenzone sunscreens and uses the compound octocrylene, according to court papers.

Last year, L’Oreal earned 2.51 billion euros ($3.29 billion) on revenue of 20.3 billion euros, according to information compiled by Bloomberg.

The company seeks unspecified damages after a jury trial, a ruling that the patents are infringed and an order to stop further use its inventions.

L’Oreal rose 32 cents to 81.44 euros Monday in trading on the Paris stock exchange.

Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Seema Kumar and Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose didn’t immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment on the lawsuit.