P&G Files Infringement Lawsuit

The Procter & Gamble Company has filed a lawsuit against McLane Company, Inc., Salado Sales and Consumer Value Products, Inc. (CVP) for trade dress infringement and unfair competition. The suit, filed U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Dayton, involves the company’s Bounty, Charmin, and Vicks’ NyQuil and DayQuil LiquiCaps brands. P&G will ask for a preliminary injunction to order defendants to stop distributing the infringing product and to notify their retailers to impound or return all products. The company believes that the defendants are selling products in packages that copy the famous P&G products and packages. P&G’s products are associated with high quality and have achieved enormous goodwill among consumers. Defendants’ unauthorized use of P&G’s trade dress is likely to cause confusion among consumers and allows defendants to trade on the goodwill we established in these brands from years of effort and expense. “We believe this is a case of clear infringement, designed to feed on the goodwill of our brands,” said Jim Johnson, P&G chief legal officer. “These look-alike products can confuse people and are a disservice to consumers. We are filing this lawsuit to put a stop to it. “Copying our product designs is unfair and violates the law.”