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P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

wsj.com

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Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#51

Post by dpark »

Someone1234 wrote: post #23
reitanqild wrote: post #7

Tangentially related: I moved to old fashioned razor blades a few months ago and have actually hurt myself less since then. Bonus: It cost like a fraction of the price and you don't look like a teenager when shaving :-P

I assume by "old fashioned" you mean a safety razor, not a straight razor. Safety razors are indeniably cheaper long term (although expect to pay $100 ish to get a good handle, brush, bowl, blades, and soap). You'll likely break even after ten years (assuming $1.50 cartridges Vs. 10c blades). You'll also likely receive a closer shave with a safety razor. That being said... I did the whole safety razor thing. It was f…

I find that the thick lather isn't really the issue. The issue for me is that I need something slick directly on the skin. A good shaving soap will have fats in it that do this job, whereas a cheap shaving foam/gel will not. You can spend 5 minutes (cannot imagine needing 10) getting a good foam from a shaving soap, or you can be lazy and slap some moisturizing lotion directly on the skin and then follow it up with some cheap gel. If shaving short stubble, you might not even need the gel. It really just helps lift the hair. You can also replace the lotion with a shaving oil, or hair conditioner, or anything else that will keep the skin slick while you shave and won't be lifted off by the gel.

I prefer the shave I get with a brush and shaving soap to the shave I get with lotion and shaving gel, but I prefer the lotion and shaving gel with a safety razor to any shave I can get with a cartridge razor. The lotion and shaving gel doesn't take me any more time than just using gel, either, because I can shave more efficiently.

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#52

Post by commenter1239 »

marme wrote: post #26
swang wrote: post #5

Anyone shed some light on whether there is any validity, or is it just Gillette trying to scare DSC and their customers?

it is valid but it is just being used to run them out of business. The actual patent violator is Dorco but they are a foreign company and it would be pointless to sue them. Dollar shave club is merely importing patent infringing razors into the US. But patent law allows you to sue anyone who imports patent infringing materials which makes sense because it can be hard to identify the factory doing the patent infringin…

But Dorco sell them in the US[0]. [0] http://www.dorcousa.com/

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#53

Post by lbotos »

pc86 wrote: post #31
Someone1234 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy directly from Dorco in the US.

Serious question: Does this do anything to lessen the infringement claim against DSC?

PG sues DSC for using Dorco. Dorco is available directly in the states. Why doesn't PG sue Dorco?

(I didn't read the article, but that's the point I think GP was trying to make.)

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#54

Post by OopsCriticality »

Someone1234 wrote: post #23
reitanqild wrote: post #7

Tangentially related: I moved to old fashioned razor blades a few months ago and have actually hurt myself less since then. Bonus: It cost like a fraction of the price and you don't look like a teenager when shaving :-P

I assume by "old fashioned" you mean a safety razor, not a straight razor. Safety razors are indeniably cheaper long term (although expect to pay $100 ish to get a good handle, brush, bowl, blades, and soap). You'll likely break even after ten years (assuming $1.50 cartridges Vs. 10c blades). You'll also likely receive a closer shave with a safety razor. That being said... I did the whole safety razor thing. It was f…

> Unfortunately creating a good thick lather can easily take ten minutes.

Is it possible that you have hard water?

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#55

Post by mikeash »

wahsd wrote: post #11

Does anyone know where the complaint is or at least the specific patents? I guess they are claiming infringement against a method to coat the blades somehow to improve shaving? Why do I have a feeling this will be another one of those cases that expose just how corrupt and broken our patent system is.

I get the opposite impression. From the brief description in the article, this sounds like it might be a good patent. But I too would be interested in seeing just what the patent is.

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#56

Post by yarrel »

Someone1234 wrote: post #8

It is extremely telling that Gillette is suing Dollar Shave Club, a direct competitor, rather than Dorco the actual manufacturer of the blades themselves. DSC is actually just a blade reseller, so suing them for patent infringement seems odd. Until you consider that this whole lawsuit may be part of a larger drive to either push DSC out of business or buy them out of business, in either case the cost of the lawsuit w…

My experience of dollar shave club was that it was none of those things.

But suing them in this way isn't good.

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#57

Post by dpark »

iamleppert wrote: post #38

All of this would be moot if people would just grow a beard and discover all the awesomeness that comes with it! Most of all you don't have to shave anymore!

I still shave my neck and it takes at least as long as shaving my face used to, because creating/maintaining a clean neckline takes longer than just shaving it off. I find it unattractive (and itchy) to have the beard grow down my neck as far as it wants to naturally.

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#58

Post by ripberge »

Nadya wrote: post #41
iamleppert wrote: post #38

All of this would be moot if people would just grow a beard and discover all the awesomeness that comes with it! Most of all you don't have to shave anymore!

Until some beard oil company finds a way to sue Dollar Beard Club. ;) https://www.dollarbeardclub.com/

Wouldn't be surprised if Dollar Shave Club brings some legal action against Dollar Beard Club.

They have copied them to such a degree with their name and their advertising it is creating confusion in the marketplace. And that's kind of a litmus test for trademark infringement from what I remember in my business law classes.

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#59

Post by pc86 »

lbotos wrote: post #53
pc86 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: Does this do anything to lessen the infringement claim against DSC?

PG sues DSC for using Dorco. Dorco is available directly in the states. Why doesn't PG sue Dorco? (I didn't read the article, but that's the point I think GP was trying to make.)

I agree, and I think it's obvious that PG is only interested in using this as a means to damage DSC. I was asking if DSC could potentially use this as a defense in court, e.g. arguing that PG has a duty to go after Dorco first or at least simultaneously.

Edit: To which PG would probably argue that DSC is the largest distributor of the infringing blades and represents the greatest infringement overall.

Re: P&G’s Gillette Sues Dollar Shave Club

#60

Post by alistairSH »

Someone1234 wrote: post #34
processing wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like their last line of attack they created https://www.gilletteshaveclub.com (Whois shows this site was created 23rd April 2015).

The most expensive way to buy blades ever... Mach3 Turbo: $3.50/blade ($2.09 on Amazon S&S). Fusion: $4.50/blade ($3.17 on Amazon S&S). ProGlide: $4.90/blade ($2.61 on Amazon S&S). And since I am comparing it to Amazon's Subscribe & Save, both include delivery and the same level of convenience.

Wow! People actually pay that much to shave?

Name brand, 2 blade disposables are a about $1.25/unit on Amazon.

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