Lindsay Lohan introduced her spray tanning product with much fanfare, claiming she and a colleague worked years perfecting it.
But a St. Petersburg chemist claims the pair stole her formula after negotiations broke down for them to buy it.
Jennifer Sunday is suing Lohan and the movie star's business partner, Lorit Simons, for lost profits and royalties, as well as punitive damages.
"They were on notice [Sunday] had taken steps to protect her product, her formula, and they ignored it totally," Marcia S. Cohen, one of Sunday's attorneys, said this morning.
Lohan and Simons could not be reached for comment.
The lawsuit filed in Tampa's federal court contends Sunday's firm, White Wave International Labs, entered into a confidential agreement with Simon's firm in January. The agreement was to allow Lorit LLC to examine Sunday's secret suntan spray formula.
Simon tried to buy the formula, but the parties couldn't agree on a price, the lawsuit contends. The companies then contemplated an agreement in which Simon, who owns a Las Vegas tanning company, would buy canisters of the product and distribute it. No deal was struck.
After not hearing from Simon, Sunday contends that she learned Lohan and Simon had announced the introduction of Sevin Nyne, a self-tanning mist that Lohan described in ads as her "sunless secret."
Sevin Nyne's ingredients were the same or nearly identical to Sunday's formula, the lawsuit contends.
According to the Sevin Nyne Web site, Lohan and Simon worked for three years to perfect their product, which is named for Lohan's lucky numbers. It sells for $35 a bottle.
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