the Consumer segment. In addition to products sold in large volume retailers, professional salons and demonstrator-assisted retailers, the Company’s products also compete with products sold in prestige and department stores, television shopping, door-to-door, specialty stores, one-stop shopping beauty retailers, the Internet/e-commerce, perfumeries and other distribution outlets. The Company’s competitors include, among others, L’Oréal S.A., The Procter & Gamble Company, Avon Products, Inc., Coty, Inc., Shiseido Co., Johnson & Johnson, Kao Corp., Henkel AG & Co., Mary Kay Inc., Hand & Nail Harmony, Inc., Oriflame Holding AG, Markwins International Corporation, Sephora (a division of LVMH Moët Henessy Louis Vuitton SE), Boots UK Limited and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (See “Risk Factors – Competition in the cosmetics, hair care, beauty care, fragrance and skin care business could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.”)
Patents, Trademarks and Proprietary Technology
The Company considers trademark protection to be very important to its business. The Company’s trademarks are registered in the U.S. and in approximately 150 other countries. Significant trademarks include Revlon, Revlon ColorStay, Revlon PhotoReady, Revlon Super Lustrous, Revlon ColorBurst, Almay, Almay Smart Shade, SinfulColors, Pure Ice, Mitchum, Charlie, Jean Naté, Cutex, Revlon ColorSilk, Revlon Professional, Intercosmo, Orofluido, UniqOne, American Crew, Creme of Nature, CND, CND Shellac, CND Vinylux, Gatineau and Natural Honey. With the acquisition of Elizabeth Arden, we now also own or have rights to use other significant trademarks for the manufacture, marketing, distribution and sale of numerous fragrance, cosmetic and skin care brands in our Elizabeth Arden segment, including owned marks such as Elizabeth Arden Red Door, 5th Avenue, Visible Difference, Prevage, Eight Hour, Elizabeth Arden Pro, Giorgio Beverly Hills, Curve and Halston and licensed trademarks such as Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Juicy Couture, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucky Brand, John Varvatos, Alfred Sung, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Geoffrey Beene, Ed Hardy, Jennifer Aniston and Wildfox Couture. The Company regularly renews its trademark registrations in the ordinary course of business.
The Company utilizes certain proprietary and/or patented technologies in the formulation, packaging or manufacture of a number of the Company’s products, including, among others, Revlon ColorStay cosmetics, Revlon PhotoReady makeup, Revlon Age Defying cosmetics, Almay Smart Shade makeup, Almay Intense i-Color eye makeup, Revlon ColorSilk hair color, Prevage skin care line, Mitchum anti-perspirant deodorants, CND Shellac nail color systems and CND Vinylux nail polishes. The Company considers its proprietary technology and patent protection to be important to its business.
The Company files patents in the ordinary course of business on certain of the Company’s new technologies. Utility patents in the U.S. are enforceable for at least 20 years and international patents are enforceable for 20 years. The patents that the Company currently has in place expire at various times between 2016 and 2033 and the Company expects to continue to file patent applications on certain of its technologies in the ordinary course of business in the future.
Government Regulation
The Company is subject to regulation by the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) in the U.S., as well as various other federal, state, local and foreign regulatory authorities, including those in the European Union (the “EU”), Canada and other countries in which the Company operates. The Company’s Oxford, North Carolina manufacturing facility is registered with the FDA as a drug manufacturing establishment, permitting the manufacture of cosmetics and other beauty-care products that contain over-the-counter drug ingredients, such as sunscreens, anti-perspirant deodorants and anti-dandruff hair-care products. Compliance with federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations pertaining to the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment, has not had, and is not anticipated to have, a material effect on the Company’s capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. Regulations in the U.S., the EU, Canada and in other countries in which the Company operates that are designed to protect consumers or the environment have an increasing influence on the Company’s product claims, ingredients and packaging. (See “Risk Factors—The Company’s products are subject to federal, state and international regulations that could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.”)