L’Oréal has emerged victorious in a patent infringement case against RN Ventures for infringing its patent and registered community designs through the sale of its Magnitone electronic facial skin care devices.

Mr Justice Henry Carr ruled in L’Oréal’s favour during the case, which was held at the UK High Court, stating that the Magnitone products created the same ‘overall impression’ as L’Oréal’s registered 000407747-001 design, but not that of the 001175046-001.

When putting the case forward, L’Oréal called into question the oscillating circular head of the Magnitone products, which has rings of bristles arranged in concentric circles to deep-cleanse pores, and the similarity of the products.

While RN Ventures didn’t challenge the legitimacy of the patent number 1,722,699 B1, it claimed L’Oréal had not infringed it. Stephen Franklin, L’Oreal expert and professor of University of Sheffield gave experiments as evidence showcasing four types of movements that he felt were replicated by the Magnitone products.

In light of the evidence, Justice Carr stated that two movements fell outside of the patent claims, while two movements fell within the claims.

L’Oréal’s application to amend claim 8 of the patent was also granted by the court in order to make the proposed amendment ‘sufficiently clear’.