PTAB

IPR2024-01104

DR Squatch LLC v. Procter & Gamble Co

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Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Deodorant Compositions and Methods
  • Brief Description: The ’999 patent relates to anhydrous deodorant stick compositions that are free of aluminum salts and silicones. The invention is directed toward providing a "natural" deodorant with specific physical properties, notably a hardness range intended for optimal consumer acceptance and product feel.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Claims 1-7, 9-13, and 15-18 are obvious over Lesniak in view of Phinney and Bianchi ’518

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Lesniak (Patent 11,433,018), Phinney (Patent 9,314,412), and Bianchi ’518 (Patent 6,048,518).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Lesniak discloses a natural, anhydrous deodorant stick that meets most limitations of independent claim 1, including being free of aluminum salts and containing a primary structurant with a melting point above 50°C. However, Lesniak uses zinc oxide as its antimicrobial. Phinney was cited to teach the benefit of adding magnesium hydroxide to a zinc oxide-containing deodorant to enhance antimicrobial efficacy. Finally, Petitioner asserted that Bianchi ’518 explicitly discloses that the claimed hardness range (80 to 140 mm*10) was "typical" for such products to achieve consumer acceptance.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine Lesniak's base formulation with Phinney’s teaching of magnesium hydroxide to improve odor protection while maintaining the desired "natural" ingredient profile of the composition. The POSITA would be further motivated to modify the resulting formulation to fall within the "typical" hardness range taught by Bianchi ’518 to ensure the final product met consumer expectations for application feel and stability, a primary goal for commercial deodorants.
    • Expectation of Success: Petitioner contended a POSITA would have a high expectation of success because Phinney described magnesium hydroxide as an "effective antimicrobial" that had been successfully formulated into deodorant sticks. Furthermore, adjusting structurant levels to achieve a known, desirable hardness range was a matter of routine optimization and a predictable design choice for formulators in this field.

Ground 2: Claims 1-15 and 17-18 are obvious over Native in view of Bianchi ’254 and Easy Homemade

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Native (a 2016 website archive), Bianchi ’254 (Application # 2007/0166254), and Easy Homemade (a 2017 website archive).

  • Core Argument for this Ground:

    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner asserted that Native, a commercially successful product acquired by the Patent Owner, discloses an ingredient list for a natural, aluminum-free deodorant stick that substantially matches a "comparative example" acknowledged in the ’999 patent. While Native's public information lacks specific ingredient percentages or hardness data, Bianchi ’254 teaches conventional quantitative ranges for these exact types of ingredients (e.g., 12-25% stearyl alcohol) and discloses a preferred hardness range that falls within the challenged claims. The antimicrobial in Native is baking soda; Easy Homemade, a publication for homemade natural deodorants, explicitly teaches substituting magnesium hydroxide for baking soda to avoid the well-known problem of skin irritation.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA developing a natural deodorant would look to a successful commercial product like Native as a starting point. To convert Native's ingredient list into a functional product, the POSITA would consult references like Bianchi ’254 for conventional component percentages and optimal hardness values. To improve upon the Native formula by addressing the known skin irritation potential of baking soda, the POSITA would be motivated by Easy Homemade to substitute it with the known non-irritating and effective alternative, magnesium hydroxide.
    • Expectation of Success: Petitioner argued success would be highly expected. Formulating a stick using the conventional ingredient ranges and hardness targets from Bianchi ’254 was a predictable process. Moreover, Easy Homemade demonstrates that the direct substitution of magnesium hydroxide for baking soda was a simple, known, and effective solution ("it worked just as well"), confirming its feasibility for even a non-expert.

  • Additional Grounds: Petitioner asserted additional obviousness challenges, including adding Lamb to the Lesniak combination to teach baking soda (claim 8), adding Bianchi ’254 to the Lesniak combination to teach stearyl alcohol as the primary structurant (claim 14), and adding Millet to the Native combination to teach tapioca starch as a sweat-absorbing filler (claim 16).

4. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of an inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1-18 of Patent 11,540,999 as unpatentable.