Mary Kay to pay out $26m for patent infringement

Wilmington-based TTI is a wholly owned subsidiary of NeoStrata Company​ and claims to be pioneers in alpha-hydroxyacid skin care technology as well as being the inventors of more than 125 patents relating to alpha-hydroxyacids and other skin care technology.

AHA is widely used in the cosmetics industry as a chief ingredient in a number of leading anti-wrinkle treatments.

Currently TTI's AHA skin care patents are licensed to 40 companies in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries including Avon, Beiersdorf, L'Oreal, Elizabeth Arden, Johnson & Johnson and Chanel.

Richard Wildnauer, president of NeoStrata, said: "We are pleased that a jury has again recognized the pioneering discoveries made by Drs. Van Scott and Yu [who were the major forces behind the development of alpha-hydroxyacid] by validating our patents. TTI remains committed to the vigorous enforcement of its intellectual property, such as in this instance where Mary Kay sold skin care products using the patented AHA technology without a license."​

""This five-day trial was a swift conclusion to a four-year patent battle. TriStrata has licensed agreements with many skin care companies, for their pioneering advancements in products containing AHA as wrinkle reducers,""​ said trial attorney Jan Conlin of Miller Ciresi. "We are extremely pleased the jury recognized Mary Kay's infringement and awarded TriStrata with this substantial verdict."​

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, TriStrata has originally been seeking $75 million in damages against Dallas-based Mary Kay​. TriStrata initially sued Mary Kay over the infringement back in 2001.