As the battle between Megasol Group USA and Pjur Group over Eros lubricant makes its way to a higher court, AVN Adult Novelty Business spoke with Pjur Group’s Richie Harris and Megasol's Rafi Maman to find out how the two companies came to be embroiled in an escalating quagmire of accusations and litigation.
“The original [silicone lubricant] invention was made by a friend of ours named Baldo and his partner [Dieter] Laros,” Harris said. “Initially they made this stuff in a basement in Germany. They were looking for a bottler. They happened upon Megasol, who was the closest one in the region. They struck a deal — a bottling contract,”
Baldo, an artisan with little business savvy, apparently accepted a royalty deal for each bottle of Eos (as it was called then) that sold.
In 1994, the popular silicone-based Eos became trademarked as Eros and Megasol remained the product’s bottler. In 1995, Harris and his partner Alexander Giebel entered the picture.
“Laros and Giebel were very cautious,” Harris said. “They didn’t want to give the formula to any bottler, so they had two of the ingredients pre-mixed from the source. Then they told the bottler how much of the third ingredient to add. That was their protection.”
Megasol’s Maman has another view of history - and that’s where things get sticky. “The product and the original formula are still in-house,” said Maman. “If you read what the judge said, [Harris and Giebel] only worked as a marketing group. I can’t take it away from them — they did an amazing job worldwide. But [Megasol founder] Peter Kertels supported them for years. We have documents showing they were paid salaries. They have no involvement with the production and creation of the product — none whatsoever.”
By ’94, the signature logo and “body torso” graphic on the bottle became permanently associated with the Eros line. Pjur asserts that Baldo owns the torso design.
“How can they have the nerve [to use the torso artwork] when we won the rights? We own this,” said Maman. “They are not allowed to use our fonts. They removed the torso because they are not allowed to use it.”
Harris disagreed. “Because it had been around so long in 2002, we were talking about switching our body silhouette...right around that time is when Megasol continued to use the [unauthorized] torso symbol in their factory,” he says. Harris believes that once Pjur abandoned the torso symbol, Megasol continued to use it to usurp a bogus copyright claim.
At one point, Pjur was also marketing and selling Megasol’s own brand of lube, but the conflict of interest was counterproductive at best — so Pjur dropped Megasol from its sales roster, thus causing the first rift between the companies.
In any event, Pjur maintains that the split with Megasol occurred because the bottler essentially breached a contract. At first, the final bottled product was shipped to the Pjur Group service center then distributed worldwide. “All the conception for the marketing – the advertising, the trade shows – that was all done by Giebel Sales and Marketing,” Harris said. “They had an exclusive deal, but the contract read that if Megasol couldn’t supply all our needs, [Pjur] could go elsewhere. Our sales were skyrocketing. You can’t just have one bottling source — if they have a fire, you’re doomed. You should have two or three. So we developed other bottling sources. This pissed off Megasol.”
By 2002, Pjur Group was servicing 52 countries and the company severed ties with Megasol. According to Harris, the move crushed Megasol’s bottom line.
“They had no rights to start a new Eros line,” Maman said. “They don’t have the original formula. In fact, they are manufacturing the product in Belgium — they don’t even manufacture the product in Germany.”
Harris dismissed Maman’s argument. “People have been trying to guess the Eros recipe to this day. Even Megasol can’t do it,” he said. “We know because we’ve tested it.”
Megasol took the matter to court, dealing a blow to Pjur in a hearing in Frankfurt. “The CE Monitor (Germany’s Food and Drug Administration) penalized Pjur group €30,000 ($36,000 USD) for using our CE registration number,” says Maman. “They were not authorized to use it. We have documents to prove it.”
Harris remains unmoved. “Our [original] lawyers did a terrible job,” he said. “In fact, we’re going after them for malpractice. Just because Megasol won the fee motion has nothing to do with the trademark in any way, shape, or form. They say that proves they own the trademark—but it doesn’t. I say, ‘if it’s your trademark, why did you lose the trademark case twice in Germany?’ The higher regional court of Frankfurt ruled it’s [our] trademark.”
Both companies will wait at a least a year for the next appellate hearing, but agree that “the market is sick and tired of this litigation.”
“There’s a long waiting line and lubricant isn’t high on the docket,” said Harris. “Let me summarize our attorney’s statement: Basically the lower court says ‘you’ve been fighting for so long, and you’ve both coexisted for so long, you both can continue to sell it until the Supreme Court hearing.’”
Although distributors may be wary about carrying two different Eros brands, the bickering will be slightly allayed by the more forgiving marketplace, in which both companies will no doubt continue to prosper.
“Thank God America is big,” Maman said. “There is plenty of room for everybody to make money.”
