Plaintiffs are a group of American and Canadian glass container manufacturers.
Revlon, through an affiliated division called RevTech, is engaged in the business of developing glass decorating technology for use on products such as those manufactured by plaintiffs. RevTech developed a relatively environmentally-friendly technology, whereby polymer inks are silk screened onto the glass to be decorated or imprinted, and then cured with the use of ultraviolet light. The ink can then be washed off by Revlon's washing process. This system has obvious benefits in the utilization of recycled glass bottles. Plaintiffs and Revlon entered into a relationship with the objective of exploiting the newly developed technology.