In a legal battle that has been going on for over two years, a Delaware court has now granted Olaplex a preliminary injunction against L’Oréal USA after Olaplex alleged that products from Matrix, Redken and L’Oréal Professionnel infringed on a patent.
The decision, from Judge Joseph Bataillon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, could bar L’Oréal USA from making or selling Matrix Bond Ultim8 Step 1 Amplifier, Redken pH-Bonder #1 Bond Protecting Additive and L’Oréal Professionnel Smartbond Step 1 Additive.
“Olaplex has waited for more than two years for this decision, and we’re thrilled to see that Judge Batallion agreed with numerous other judges in the United States and United Kingdom in finding that L’Oréal has infringed Olaplex’s patent rights,” Olaplex chief legal officer and chief administrative officer, Tiffany Walden said in a statement.
The injunction has not yet been ordered, and the scope has not yet been determined, sources said. L’Oréal USA lawyers planned Monday to file a letter with the court asking it to limit the scope of any injunction to only the bleaching aspects of all three products, which are labeled for both colouring and bleaching. If that were granted, all three L’Oréal products could still be sold, a source with knowledge of the case said.
“L’Oréal USA strongly disagrees with the federal court’s interim decision, as the facts of this case remain clearly on our side,” L’Oréal said in a statement.
“We do not anticipate this ruling to have an impact on the sale of our products, including the bonding products, as we are taking appropriate steps and will continue defending ourselves against Olaplex’s baseless claims in court and in the marketplace.”
This isn’t the only legal battle between the two parties. In the U.K., Olaplex won a lawsuit in mid-2018 where it had alleged that L’Oréal Smartbond products infringed on an Olaplex patent. L’Oréal appealed that decision, and the court is expected to make another ruling at the end of 2019 or in 2020.
