Judgment Entered in Magic Tan Infringement Case
November 11, 2004

The federal court of the District of Nevada entered a default judgment in a patent infringement suit against the alleged owner of four Magic Tan sunless spray booths in February 2004. The suit, filed by Laughlin Products, alleged that the booths infringed on its US patents # 5,922,333, 6,298,862, and 6,474,343.

The judgment was for $109,000 for each of the four booths, for a total of $436,000. The court entered this amount based on damages for infringement. Laughlin Products and the defendant have since settled this matter and a notification of satisfaction of judgment has been entered in the Court records.

In a similar case in Florida, a federal court entered a default ruling in August against the owner of Magic Tan spray booth. Laughlin Products is seeking a judgment in excess of $100,000 in that case. The court is expected to decide on the monetary award in the near future.

Laughlin Products’ president, Dr. Tom Laughlin, considers these victories to be bittersweet, claiming “We consider these judgments a major endorsement of our patent position, and a major psychological victory. However, all proceeds from these cases must go to the support ongoing patent litigation.”

The cost of a patent infringement suit from initial filing to verdict is usually in excess of $1,000,000 for each side. Most infringement suits, however, are settled long before the reach a jury.

Laughlin Products has filed over 130 infringement suits since its first sunless spray booth patent issued in 1999. That patent, US PTO# 5,922,333, is considered the pioneering patent for the sunless spray booth industry. Laughlin Products subsequently has received an additional sixteen patents relating to this technology, has four patents allowed but yet to be issued, and numerous applications under review. Its patent position is in line with their mission statement, “To be recognized as the technology leader in automated sunless tanning”.

About 32 of the 130 plus suits have now been settled. Two were settled when possession of the alleged infringing booths was given to Laughlin Products. The other 30, which all involved the Sunless Express spray booth, were part of an overall settlement agreement with the manufacturer of the booth, ETS.

The remaining 100 or so suits all involve sunless spray booths manufactured by either Magic Tan or Hollywood Tans. Hollywood Tans also private labels its booths under the trade names Sun Spritz, Summer Image, Omega Pro and Miracle Mist. These 100 plus suits have been consolidated in a Philadelphia federal court by a federal multidistrict panel. The suits are being administered under a single schedule, and are now in the discovery phase.