Fellow Holders,
When dealing with Gillette as a brand, they will play things very, very covertly until they put the product on market. By way of history, the following is an article from the Cincinnati Business Journal from 16 January 2015. A year old, I know. But I wonder what the 'magnetic attachments' were? Remember they exposed stuff that was not on market but in R & D. Puts some context around just how good OBJ is in preserving IP with our giant P&G partner.
Good luck to all, Pay.
"Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble today filed a lawsuit against four former employees of its Gillette Co. subsidiary, claiming they shared trade secrets with a competitor.
The suit alleges that the former employees breached confidentiality contracts with Gillette after being hired or retained as consultants by ShaveLogic, a Dallas-based company.
Among the new and evolving technology the former P&G employees participated in or had access to were magnetic attachments for shaving cartridges and so-called elastometric pivots (polymers with elasticity like natural rubber).
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Among the new and evolving technology the former P&G employees participated in or had the trade secrets don't involve Gillette razors or shaving technology already on the market, a spokeswoman told me.
"It's not specific to a particular product," P&G spokeswoman Kara Buckley said of the suit. "The individuals in question worked in our research and development group. It's common for folks in that group to work on technology that the consumer might not see for a decade."
Among the new and evolving technology the former employees participated in or had access to were magnetic attachments for shaving cartridges and so-called elastometric pivots (polymers with elasticity like natural rubber).
The suit was filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, where Gillette is based. It seeks an injunction to stop the former employees from disclosures involving Gillette's confidential information and trade secrets. The suit also requests a jury trial and unspecified damages.
"We invest heavily to understand consumers' needs and then to innovate to meet those needs," said Deborah Majoras, chief legal officer of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG). "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."
In addition to ShaveLogic Inc., named as defendants were: Craig Provost of Massachusetts, former section head for Gillette's industrial design group; John Griffin of New Hampshire, who was at Gillette 25 years and rose to the highest levels of research and development; William Tucker of Massachusetts, a mechanical engineer who worked in product design and development, and Douglas Kohring of Maine, who had been a senior mechanical design engineer at Gillette.
ShaveLogic allegedly has filed several patents related to shaving equipment that the former employees worked on while with Gillette. The suit claims ShaveLogic has hired other former Gillette employees as well as former in-house and outside lawyers who specialized in the area of intellectual property.
"ShaveLogic has actively leveraged its consulting and employment relationships with former Gillette employees to raise capital for its research, development and operational expenses," the P&G suit claims.
Representatives of ShaveLogic couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Brunsman covers Procter & Gamble Co. and health care."
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