Washington: Johnson & Johnson, the maker of Listerine Whitening Quick Dissolving Strips was sued by Procter & Gamble Co over two patents for teeth-brightening products.

In the lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court in Madison,Wisconsin, P&G accuses J&J and its McNeil PPC unit of violating the patents for the active ingredient in teeth-whitening products and the system of using a strip of material so the whitener works on the teeth. P&G, the maker of Crest Whitestrips, seeks a court order to halt sales of J&J’s Listerine strips.

The largest consumer-products company in the US, P&G began selling Crest Whitestrips in 2000 and says more than 30 million people have used them.

The strips created “a new product segment” and have “since become an important part of P&G’s overall oral-care product portfolio,” the company said in a statement.

P&G, based in Cincinnati, also seeks cash compensation. The consumer-products company has started to sell a new version that combines whitening with tartar control. J&J, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, began selling the Listerine strips last year.

They helped boost first-quarter sales of the Listerine product line, J&J said last month. The strips, used twice daily for two weeks, dissolve in the mouth so there’s nothing to remove, according to the company’s web site.

Source : DNA