SHOPPING CARTBriteSmile Amends Complaint in Federal Lawsuit Against Discus Dental and Salim Nathoo
WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Mar 5, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- On February 28, 2003, BriteSmile, Inc. (Nasdaq: BSML), a leading international provider of state-of-the-art teeth whitening, amended its existing patent infringement lawsuit against Discus Dental, Inc. by adding Salim Nathoo as a defendant and alleging that Nathoo and Discus Dental conspired to misappropriate BriteSmile's trade secrets in violation of Nathoo's contractual obligations with the Company.The amended lawsuit alleges that, as BriteSmile's Medical Director, Nathoo had, and continues to have, an obligation to keep BriteSmile's trade secrets confidential. However, beginning in 2001, the lawsuit alleges, Discus Dental and Nathoo entered into an agreement whereby Discus Dental paid Nathoo at least $2.5 million over a less than two year period for Nathoo's "consulting" services, which included paying Nathoo to divulge BriteSmile's trade secrets. The lawsuit alleges further that in December 2002 a third party informed BriteSmile of Nathoo's activities, and that when confronted by BriteSmile, Nathoo admitted receiving $2.5 million from Discus Dental.
"We at BriteSmile are very disturbed by this turn of events. We trusted Dr. Nathoo with our most sensitive trade secrets, and are disappointed by his apparent sale of our secrets to the highest bidder. However, we are committed to enforcing our intellectual property rights and will take all necessary steps to prevent its unauthorized use," said John L. Reed, BriteSmile CEO.
BriteSmile is seeking a permanent injunction against both Discus Dental and Nathoo to halt the alleged conduct, as well as treble damages and attorneys' fees for the damage done to BriteSmile.
The Amended Complaint was filed by the Chicago and Palo Alto offices of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, which was recently engaged by BriteSmile as its new patent counsel.
BriteSmile (Nasdaq: BSML) has developed and manufactures the most advanced teeth whitening technology available, as well as manages state-of-the-art BriteSmile Professional Teeth Whitening Centers. BriteSmile Centers are currently operating in Beverly Hills, Irvine, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek and La Jolla, CA; Honolulu, HI; Houston, TX; Denver, CO; Boston, MA; Boca Raton, FL; Atlanta, GA; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; and, Phoenix, AZ. In addition to BriteSmile Centers, the Company has contracted with independent dentists to perform whitening procedures at more than 4,400 Associated Centers. Of the BriteSmile Associated Centers, more than 1,000 are located outside of the United States. For more information about BriteSmile's procedure, call 800-BRITESMILE or visit the Company's Website at http://www.britesmile.com .
SOURCE BriteSmile, Inc.
CONTACT: Kelly Sullivan, +1-212-515-1908, or Heather Fass, +1-212-515-1955, both for BriteSmile, Inc. URL: http://www.britesmile.com http://www.prnewswire.com
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