We’ll fight Dollar Shave Club over patent: P&G

While crediting Gillette products for helping deliver better-than-expected quarterly earnings, Procter & Gamble Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller said Tuesday the consumer products giant will “vigorously protect” its razor patents.

P&G’s Gillette is suing quickly growing upstart Dollar Shave Club for alleged patent infringement over razor blades. Dollar Shave Club began selling blades online in 2012, delivering what it calls “high quality razors to your door for a few bucks a month.”

Refusing to comment directly on the lawsuit, Moeller did say P&G continues to be “the significant leader in terms of market share in shave.”

“We’ve just launched an online presence. We’ve gained six share points … since June,” he continued. “So we’ve very comfortable where we stand in the marketplace.”

Moeller said P&G’s shaving products provide a “superior value equation with all aspects of value: pricing, product, efficacy, aesthetic, [and] usage experience all wrapped into one.”

Dollar Shaving Club did not immediately respond to a CNBC email sent Tuesday seeking comment. When the lawsuit was filed in December, it declined to comment.

Earlier Tuesday, Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expectedadjusted earnings of $1.04 per share in its fiscal second quarter. That was a 9 percent increase from the year-ago period.

The results were aided by cost savings as P&G works to streamline to focus on more profitable brands, such as Gillette, Pampers diapers and Tide detergent.

Moeller said the company’s U.S. was the bright spot in the quarter, helped by innovations including a new razor in December. “It has a lubricated strip on both sides of the blade, which leads to much smoother shave.”

Due primarily to foreign exchange fluctuations, revenue dropped 9 percent from last year to $16.92 billion for the latest quarter, slightly below estimates of $16.94 billion.

Organic sales, which exclude the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions and divestitures, increased 2 percent.

P&G repurchased $2 billion of common stock during the quarter, and returned $1.9 billion of cash to shareholders as dividends.

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