7.13.2021

Lawsuit filed by Philips for Infringement of Philips Razor



In the United States, Philips has recently filed a design infringement lawsuit against Ideavillage Products Corp. Philips has been manufacturing and selling men's razor and nostril trimmer since the 1940s, with annual revenues of approximately $365 million. In addition, Philips holds about 60,000 patents and 48,000 design rights worldwide, and has applied for 300 design and 500 utility patents in the United States that are all related to men's beauty products.

▲Philips (Left) and Ideavillage Products Corp. (Right)

OneBlade Shaver

The Philips OneBlade is a men's electric shaver launched in 2016 with a design reminiscent of a manual razor. At the time, rotary razors with a circular head and inner cutter, or straight foil razors with an inner blade vibrating under a foil layer were commonly found. These types of razors were also quite large and heavy. Philips has applied for a razor and design patent since 2014 to protect its differentiated design.

▲ philips.com

▲ wipsglobal.com
OneBlade patent search results


Who is the being accused?

Ideavillage Products Corp., founded in 1999, is an American retail company that sells a variety of household and home electronic appliances. Among them, there is an issue between Philips’ OneBlade and a men’s beauty product from the brand, Micro Touch. After the release of Micro Touch Solo, the shaver, in November 2017, the second generation version of it is on sale since 2020. 

▲ OneBlade from Philips (Left) and Micro Touch Solo from Ideavillage (Right)

Philips argues that the defendant has infringed Philips’ design and has been taking advantage of it by selling similar products at a lower price than Philip’s produce of OneBlade.  

▲ Product comparison between Philips and Ideavillage (Derived from litigation materials)


Other products have been infringed as well?

The plaintiff stated that the defendant infringed not only the razor, but also the design of the trimmer, which can trim nostrils, ear hair, eyebrows, etc. Defendant was selling a nostril remover called Micro Touch Max Trimmer before the release of the Philips nostril remover. Up until this point, there was no problem between Ideavillage Products Corp and Philips. However, problems arose after the release of the Micro Touch Max Titanium Trimmer, an upgraded version of the Micro Touch Trimmer. This is because Philips was also applying for a design regarding the nostril remover.


▲ wipsglobal.com
Nostril trimmer patent search results


Plaintiff argues that defendant's Micro Touch Max Titanium Trimmer infringed design rights related to the Philips Nose Trimmer. As this is a lawsuit that has been recently filed, there is no data available from the defendant. As design infringement is not a matter that can be easily determined, we are all curious on how the process will proceed.

▲ Product comparison between Philips and Ideavillage (Derived from litigation materials)






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