04.11.06
l The Procter & Gamble Company and McLane Company, Inc. jointly announced they have reached a settlement in the lawsuit filed by P&G on Dec. 21, 2005 that alleges trade dress infringement on four of P&G’s brands and unfair competition by McLane. McLane and its subsidiaries denied those contentions, but have agreed to a consent order submitted to the court and will immediately redesign the packaging of their products. The remaining terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“Our objective was to put an end to what we view as infringement of our package designs,” said Jim Johnson, P&G’s chief legal officer. “We simply must protect our brand designs. This settlement addresses our infringement concerns and we are gratified McLane will now compete in the marketplace with different package designs.”
“We are pleased to have reached a settlement that enables both companies to move forward without the shadow of protracted litigation,” said Bill Fendrick, vice president of merchandising for McLane’s grocery distribution division. “As one of America’s largest distributors of consumer goods, we value our longstanding relationship with P&G, America’s largest consumer goods company and one of our largest suppliers. We believe this settlement is in the best interests of both companies and look forward to continuing the positive and productive relationship that puts dozens of P&G product lines into stores nationwide.”
“Our objective was to put an end to what we view as infringement of our package designs,” said Jim Johnson, P&G’s chief legal officer. “We simply must protect our brand designs. This settlement addresses our infringement concerns and we are gratified McLane will now compete in the marketplace with different package designs.”
“We are pleased to have reached a settlement that enables both companies to move forward without the shadow of protracted litigation,” said Bill Fendrick, vice president of merchandising for McLane’s grocery distribution division. “As one of America’s largest distributors of consumer goods, we value our longstanding relationship with P&G, America’s largest consumer goods company and one of our largest suppliers. We believe this settlement is in the best interests of both companies and look forward to continuing the positive and productive relationship that puts dozens of P&G product lines into stores nationwide.”