Patents make me dizzy -avobenzone and octocrylene

amyface

I have done a ton of work getting a sunscreen product ready for the market. We just got an email from our client linking to a story about L'oreal suing J&J for using a combination of octocrylene and avobenzone. Does this mean we can't use that combination in our formulations? These things are so difficult to read! We have been using this combination in many sunscreens since I've been here and this is the first I've heard about this. Any information anyone has on this or how to get around this patent without having to redo all our expensive tests would be very helpful!!!

This is a Moisturizing SPF 15 cream/lotion with Avobenzone, Octocrylene and Octinoxate

THANKS!!

PerryR

Do you know what the patent number is?

amyface

5587150 and 5576354

amyface

It's strange. We looked next door at walgreens. It seems that ther eare dozens of formulas that have these two ingredients in them. Why only sue J&J and Merck?

Duncan

IIRC they have walked away from those patents.Best people to ask are avobenzone or OCR manufacturers

amyface

This is a new law suit filed... just January 27th of this year. We will try the manufacturers if our own searching fails. That's not a bad idea.

Duncan

Now thats interesting, as I hadn't heard that yet. Then again its only a fortnight ago, so I'm not that out of touch.

Sunscreen active manufacturers are always the go-to source for info as they keep a very close eye on anything that potentially effects their sales. In Europe before any new UV screen is launched the manufacturers will go into overtime patenting any and all combinations so this mess doesn't occur again.

Robert Zonis

Can you post the link to any information on that lawsuit? This could be quite important.

amyface

http://news.priorsmart.com/loreal-v-merck-l5kj/

Here's the link to the complaint filed with the court.

Robert Zonis

Thanks, Amy. These L'Oreal patents are kind of famous in the cosmetic industry because they effectively blocked BASF from selling Octocrylene to anyone but L'Oreal for use in sunscreens. After that, most suppliers have learned their lesson, and try to generate their own use patents for their unique materials when they first introduce them.

There used to be sort of a gentleman's agreement in place - L'Oreal wouldn't sue anyone for violating their patents, and BASF would make and sell Octocrylene at a reasonable price to L'Oreal (and anyone else who wanted it). If L'Oreal prevails, I wonder if BASF will still make any at all, or if they will just raise their price to L'Oreal to make up for the lost business?

J_Bill

Hi- I'd just like to chime in with a response to Amy's original question about alternatives to Octocrylene. Polycrylene is a very suitable replacement for photostabilizing Avobenzone that is polymer-based and falls outside the L'Oreal patents. You could replace all or part of the Octocrylene in an Avobenzone formulation with Polycrylene. You could also reduce the Octocrylene to just below the .8 molar limit claimed in the two L'Oreal patents (2.79% Octocrylene in a formulation containing 3% Avobenzone), and add Polycrylene at any level to achieve the needed level of photostabilization. Hope this helps!

Robert Zonis

Thanks, J_Bill, that's extremely useful information!! You made my day - maybe my week.

Bob

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories