Oil-Dri Awarded $3M in Cat Litter Patent Infringement Case

Sorbent products manufacturer and suppier Oil-Dri Corporation of America was awarded $3 million after an Illinois jury determined that Nestle Purina Petcare Company infringed on the company’s patent for clumping litter in a March 26 hearing, Bloomberg Law reported on Wednesday.

Oil-Dri sued Nestle Purina in February 2015 after the company found evidence that its recipe for cat litter was copied in several of Nestle Purina’s Tidy Cats litter products. 

“Once the cake mix is mixed, it’s real hard to determine what’s in there, but recently Oil-Dri was able to determine (Nestle) was using their recipe,” Michael Mazza, a lawyer representing Oil-Dri told Crain’s Chicago Business at the time of the filing. “So we have the clumping cat litter wars.”

Four years later, the jury at the Northern District of Illinois court decided that Nestle Purina used Oil-Dri’s recipe, Bloomberg Law’s coverage said. 

Cat litter produced by Oil-Dri is sold under the Cat’s Pride, Fresh & Light and Jonny Cat brands.  

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