Dr. Zein Obagi, founder of ZO Skin Health, is suing his former company, Obagi Medical Products, for anti-competitive practices.
The complaint alleges that Obagi Medical interfered with the distribution of the new ZO line of anti-aging products when it contacted an e-commerce distributor and informed them of a non-compete agreement.
Obagi Medical denies the allegations and says it will vigorously defend the suit.
As the demand for anti-aging skin care products has increased over the last decade, so has the competition within that market. Between 2006 and 2008, U.S. sales alone rose 13% to 1.6 billion dollars, and the trend shows no sign of weakening as baby-boomers take advantage of advances in skin care science to address the effects of aging on their appearance.
As a person gets older, the process of skin-cell-rejuvenation is slowed. Topical aesthetic and therapeutic skin health systems designed by Obagi Medical are specifically designed to address all of these effects, and their growing popularity should only lead to more competition in the marketplace.
