Former Monk Sues L’Oreal Over Wrinkle Cream Patent

The Associated Press reports:

A former Roman Catholic monk has filed a federal lawsuit against cosmetics giant L’Oreal, accusing the company of stealing patented technology in an anti-aging wrinkle cream that his charity was selling to raise money for the poor.

Dennis Wyrzykowski and his company, Carmel Laboratories LLC, have been joined in the lawsuit by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which developed the technology and licensed it to Carmel in 2009.

According to the lawsuit, the cream, called Easeamine, is made using technology inspired by a discovery by two UMass scientists that adenosine, a chemical compound found in the heart, can promote skin elasticity.

The suit alleges that L’Oreal had been denied patents due to their product’s similarity to Carmel’s, but they went into production anyway. Hit the link to read Wyrzkowski’s shade on L’Oreal.