Facts

Liqwd, Inc. and Olaplex LLC filed suit against L'Oreal USA Inc., L'Oreal USA Products Inc., L'Oreal USA S/D Inc., and Redken 5th Avenue NYC LLC in relation to defendants' actions as they related to plaintiffs' trade secrets and patents.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that defendants willfully infringed on their U.S. Patents Nos. 9,498,419 and 9,668,954, willfully and maliciously misappropriated their trade secrets, and committed breach of contract. Plaintiffs' patents are directed methods of applying a bleaching mixture containing an active agent formulation including of maleic acid to hair during treatments to reconstruct disulfide bonds. Plaintiffs claimed that they engaged with defendants in discussions relating to defendants' potential purchase of Olaplex, but after those discussions, defendants used trade secrets learned in those discussions to impermissibly produce their own versions of plaintiffs' products. Plaintiffs claimed they entered nondisclosure agreements before engaging in the discussions regarding potential acquisition and licensing, and defendants breached the agreements.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendants contended they independently developed their products long before they met Olaplex and the information plaintiffs alleged constituted trade secrets were already public knowledge. Defendants denied breaching any agreement entered into with plaintiffs, and denied the allegations of willful patent infringement.

Result

The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs on all claims, and awarded damages of roughly $22,265,000 on the trade secret misappropriation claim, and $22,265,000 for breach of contract. the jury also found L'Oreal's infringement willful, and awarded $21,810,000 and $24,960,000 for infringement of the '419 and '954 patents, respectively. In total, the jury awarded $91.3 million in damages. On Aug. 20, 2019, the court entered judgment in the amount of $49,920,000, which included the judgment for trade secrets misappropriation, trade secrets willfulness and breach of contract with enhanced damages for willfulness.

Other Information

Prior to trial, the court granted Olaplex's motion for summary judgment on infringement. Defendants plan to appeal. JUDGE: Joseph F. Bataillon