Former monk Dennis Wyrzykowski is suing L’Oreal over an anti-aging formula he says the beauty company stole.
Wyrzykowski, and his company Carmel Laboratories, have been joined in the lawsuit by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which developed the technology in 2009, The Associated Press reported. The patented technology was used in cream sold by Wyrzykowski’s charity to raise funds for people in need.
The lawsuit alleges that L'Oreal, having been denied patents, went ahead and manufactured a range of products based upon the scientists’ findings that a chemical compound found in the heart, adenosine, could reduce wrinkles and promote skin elasticity.
The initial cream, Easeamine, was licenced to Wyrzykowski and, according to New Beauty, allowed the former monk to sell the product at $65 a tube as fundraising efforts for charity work conducted by the Teresian Carmelites.
However, in June this year, Wyrzykowski filed a lawsuit against L'Oréal, saying the cosmetic company had destroyed his charity’s business trading by hijacking the patented technology.
"For me, L'Oreal pillaged the poor, that's what they did," he said, according to the AP.
He said the profit loss forced him to sell property intended for the development of a spiritual center.
The lawsuit was amended this month and L'Oréal has since asked that it be dismissed.
"While we admire the purpose of the work these two organizations are doing together, we find no merit in these allegations," L'Oreal said in an email to the AP.
James Dobson Jr., one of the two scientists from the University of Massachusetts Medical School who made the discovery, said the technology could be worth millions and it was upsetting that a company that was aware of a patent could willingly infringe on it, the AP reported.
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