P&G Settles Mouthwash Suit

Procter & Gamble Co. has settled a lawsuit with Vi-Jon Industries, claiming it copied its package design for mouthwash and for false advertising.

Under the agreement, Vi-Jon will pay an undisclosed sum, withdraw its product from the market and cease using bottle designs that resemble those of P&G products. It also agreed not make comparison claims with Procter’s Crest Pro-Health mouth rinse unless it can back the claims up with test results

In February, P&G had sued Vi-Jon for unfair competition and intellectual property rights violations. The Vi-Jon mouthwashes allegedly mimicked the package design of Crest Pro-Health.

“Our objective was to end what we see as a breach of our designs and intellectual property rights by a private label manufacturer,” Jim Johnson, Procter’s chief legal officer, said in a press release.