• July 8, 2011

Procter & Gamble has filed suit against Luhns GmbH, a private-label manufacturer and distributor of Hand Dish Washing liquids, in the District Court of Düsseldorf, Germany. The lawsuit alleges that Luhns GmbH is violating P&G's intellectual property by manufacturing and selling certain Magnum private label Hand Dish Washing detergents to a retailer in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Procter & Gamble says the bottle shape and overall product appearance of Luhns's dish detergent products are a little too similar to P&G's European-market Fairy Hand Dish Washing liquids.

"P&G has made significant investments in the innovations behind our Fairy Hand Dish Washing liquids. We take the intellectual property rights protecting these innovations very seriously." said Deborah P. Majoras, Chief Legal Officer, The Procter & Gamble Company, in a statement.