Crest Whitestrips® Patent Infringement Lawsuit Settled

The parties have agreed to settle the patent infringement lawsuit brought by P&G against Clio USA, Inc., Team Technologies, Inc., and Brushpoint Innovations, Inc., for infringing several patents related to P&G’s Crest Whitestrips® products. The Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio has ruled that the Defendants’ tooth whitening strip products infringe P&G’s patents and rejected Defendants’ arguments that the patents are invalid. According to the terms of the confidential settlement agreement, the Defendants will respect P&G’s patents and stop selling the infringing tooth whitening strips.

With significant investment, P&G revolutionized the process of at-home whitening with the introduction of Crest Whitestrips® in 2001. Since then, P&G has continued to invest in patented advancements on this award-winning, innovative product. Formulated with the same enamel-safe whitening ingredient dentists use, P&G’s teeth whitening systems can remove 14 years of set-in stains below the enamel surface at a fraction of the cost of in-office treatments.

About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves nearly five billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Duracell®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, Wella® and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.