P&G files lawsuit against former Gillette employees for theft of trade secrets
CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble has filed a lawsuit against four former Gillette employees who have been hired or retained by ShaveLogic, a Dallas-based company in the wet shaving field, for allegedly disclosing trade secrets. Gillette filed the case in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.
The lawsuit alleges that these former employees wrongfully used and disclosed Gillette’s highly confidential information and trade secrets, and breached contracts with Gillette, to the benefit of ShaveLogic. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop the defendants from further wrongfully using Gillette’s confidential information and trade secrets, damages, a jury trial, and other relief.
“We invest heavily to understand consumers’ needs and then to innovate to meet those needs,” said Deborah Majoras, chief legal officer of P&G. “Our investments have enabled us to invent some of the most popular shaving products in the world. When it becomes necessary, we take action to protect the intellectual assets behind those investments.”
ShaveLogic stated that it plans to contest these claims and believes that they are wrong and unfounded.
According to ShaveLogic, it believes that Gillette is unjustifiably seeking an ownership interest in a patent and numerous patent applications owned by ShaveLogic relating to the magnetic attachment of razor heads to handles and using elastomers for razor head pivoting.
“ShaveLogic vigorously denies the baseless allegations by Gillette. ShaveLogic’s products are different from anything Gillette has on the market today. Every ShaveLogic invention has been created fully independently of so-called Gillette trade secrets, and all work was performed long after the expiration date of the former employees’ non-competition agreements,” stated ShaveLogic CEO Rob Wilson. “We are disappointed that Gillette has resorted to bullying tactics to attempt to stop a pioneering start-up from bringing a unique and innovative razor to market and we will vigorously defend our team, product and position.”