The Avon Lady comes collecting Asian medicinal plants

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Programme (UNDP)’s estimate for the annualcost to provide universal safe drinking water andsanitation services ($20-$30 billion). 2Analysts say that the worldwide market growthis driven by the larger number of women over50 years of age, increases in women’s disposableincome and greater male interest in skin care products.The skin cream market is particularly strongfor products that make “anti-ageing”, “firming”and “anti-cellulite” claims.Not coincidentally, these claims are precisely thesubject of Avon’s patent applications on Asianplants. In 2009, the Asia-Pacific market for suchproducts was 41% of the world total, or about$33 billion, and continued expansion in Asia isconsidered a priority for the industry, 3 which isdominated by US and European companies.Avon Products, Inc.With $11 billion in annual sales and a marketcapitalization of over $9 billion, US-based Avon isa significant player in the cosmetics and personalcare industries. Founded in 1886, the company wasa pioneer of multi-level marketing and, in manyparts of the world, the “Avon Lady” is a familiarphenomenon.The company pursues a similar business strategyeverywhere, focusing on what industrycalls “direct sales”, by putting women into thebusiness of selling Avon products to friends andacquaintances. These saleswomen, in turn, convertsome of their customers into dealers themselves,building and perpetuating a sales chain in whichtransactions largely occur in living rooms andon street corners, rather than in Avon-brandedstorefronts.More recently, the company has also started onlineand kiosk sales, especially in countries that haverestrictions on multi-level marketing, includingChina. The company has also simplified globalproduct lines, with its current offerings varyinglittle from country to country.Avon is profitable, paying an annual dividend ofnearly $1 per share of its stock. Through a charitablefoundation the company claims (in confusingand perhaps misleading language) to be the“largest corporate supporter focused solely on women’sissues across the globe”.The company’s marketing tends toward imagesof a “high-tech” product development processled by scientists in laboratory coats at a researchheadquarters in the US state of New York. Althoughnatural products are not the main thrustof Avon’s marketing, review of the Avon productingredients reveals very frequent use of plantextracts (discussed in more detail below).Avon appears eager to expand its skin care offerings.In 2010, it bought UK-based Liz Earle, askin cream company with a different marketingapproach, selling in storefronts and on televisionshopping channels. Botanical ingredients are amatter of emphasis for Liz Earle, whose corporatetagline is “naturally active skincare”.Advertised or not, however, plants are animportant part of Avon’s skin products.Avon’s patent claims on Asian plantsAvon’s intellectual property claims reveal thecompany to be particularly interested in Asianmedicinal and food plants. The company hasrecently obtained three patents on such plants,and three more patent applications are pending.Collectively, the plants are associated with countriesacross the region, including Southeast Asia,China and South Asia. In total, claims are madeon the use of 16 different Asian plants in skin careproducts. Avon’s patents and patent applicationsare summarized in the chart on the following page,which includes some of the common names usedfor the plants that are claimed.Avon appears to be pursuing its claims not only inthe US, Canada, Japan and Europe, but in developingcountries as well. Only limited informationon the international status of patent applicationsis available online. However, the World IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO)’s Patentscopedatabase indicates that at least three patent applicationshave been lodged in China and two inMexico. More may exist without being reflectedin the WIPO data.The plants that Avon claimsHow Avon accessed the plants that it claims is notknown. Some, such as Eclipta prostrata, are relativelyubiquitous and could be obtained virtuallyanywhere. Others, such as Stephania rotunda, arefar more likely to be sourced from Asia itself, certainlyif needed in any considerable quantity. Inthe past, Avon has maintained company researchersin Asia and relationships with Asian academicinstitutions. In all of the patents described here,however, Avon company employees based in2
Avon’s Objects of Desire: Asian Medicinal PlantsPATENT/APPLICATIONNUMBERSWO2012002950US2012003331WO2012005876US20120003332TITLE GENERAL TOPIC PLANT CLAIMUse of Tiliacoratriandra incosmetics andcompositionsthereofCompositionsand methods forstimulatingMAGP-1 toimprove theappearance ofskinSkin care productsSkin care products thatwork by stimulatingproduction ofmicrofibril-associatedglycoprotein 1 (MAGP-1)Use of bai yanang (no English common name), foodand medicinal plant used in Laos, Thailand,Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. (dây sng sâm [VN], [LA], [TH]).Claims several Asian plants that may be used tocreate MAGP-1 skin care products. These are:Antidesma bunius: bignay [PH], buni [MY], wooni[ID], etc.; Operculina turpethum: turpeth, pitohri[IN], St. Thomas lidpod; Ixora chinensis: pechahpriok [MY], siantan [ID], etc.; Clerodendron lindleyi: jian chi xiu mo li [CN]The patent application claims additional plantswhen they are mixed with an extract of the aboveplants, or a functionally equivalent chemical.US Pat 7,618,662WO2006068777MX/a/2007/007376JP2007548241EP2005825815CN200580035328.6Use of naturalplant extracts incosmeticscompositionsSkin care products thatwork “to stimulate lipidproduction, adiponectinproduction, adipocytedifferentiation, PPARgammainduction,and/or anycombinations thereof”Claims several Asian plants that may be used tocreate skin care products of the invention. Theseare:Humulus scandens: lü cao [CN], widelynaturalized; Amorphophallus campanulatus:elephant foot yam, etc.; Pouzolzia pentandra (syn:Gonostegia pentandra Roxb. Miq.); Rhinacanthusnasutus: snake jasmine, kabutar ka phul [IN], etc.;Sesbania grandiflora: agati, agathi, food plant,widely distributed; Piper betel: betel nutUS Pat 7,514,092WO2006068786CN200580040937.0CA2588128EP2005852369JP2007548242Compositionsand methods oftheir use forimproving thecondition andappearance ofskin“A method ofameliorating, reducing,or treating progressivedegradation of a dermalepidermaljunctionand/or degradation of acell-cell cohesion inskin”Claims several Asian plants that may be used tocreate skin care products of the invention. Theseare:Plumbago indica: scarlet leadwort, India native,widely grown; Sapindus rarak: lerak [ID], “soapnut”; Stephania rotunda: bình vôi [VN], “sabooleard”US Pat 7,410,658WO2006068776EP2005825830MX/a/2007/007510CN200580036088.1US20110305781WO2011156136Use of Alismaorientale incosmetics andcompositionsthereofUse of Ecliptaprostrata andother PPAR-GAMMAinhibitors incosmeticsTreatment to reducecelluliteTreatment to reducecelluliteClaims use of Alisma orientale ( dong fangze xie) to treat skin problems.Claims Eclipta prostrata (false daisy) for cellulitetreatment. Widely distributed, with traditionalAsian medicinal use on skin.Note: CN – China; ID – Indonesia; IN – India; LA – Laos; MY – Malaysia; PH – Philippines; TH – Thailand; VN – VietnamNew York are indicated as the inventors, stronglysuggesting that the research and product developmentoccurred there.The company’s claims are of varying specificity.All of the claims relate to use of the Asian plants4in skin care products. Some patent applicationsappear relatively specific, for example, claimingthe use of plants to stimulate production of aparticular protein by the skin (e.g., applicationWO2012005876), while others, such as the claimson Tiliacora triandra (WO2012002950), are broader3
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