The Chromos 694 was cleared to market in 1997 by a company called
Mehl/Biophile. The founder, Thomas Louis Mehl Sr., was a fixture
in the world of hair removal scams long before he got into lasers.
Here's a timeline of his sordid career in hair removal:
1978
Mehl receives FDA clearance to sell his electric tweezer,
Finally Free.
1985
Mehl sells Mehl International and his Finally Free electric
tweezer to Selvac. Mehl goes on to run an operation called
Classy Lady by Mehl of Puerto Rico Inc.
1990
FDA seizes some of Selvac's Finally Free tweezers, leading
to a subsequent settlement in which Selvac agreed not to sell
the product in the USA. Mehl later won control of Selvac,
apparently in settlement of a lawsuit.
1995
December: Laser Industries and Classy Lady by Mehl entered
into an agreement to exploit patented laser hair-removal technology
exclusively licensed to Classy Lady. The resulting company,
Sharplan 2000, was 50%-owned by Classy Lady and 50% by Laser
Industries and is managed exclusively by Laser Industries.
1996
June: Mehl acquired 81% interest in SLS Wales Ltd., a Welsh
laser company
Mehl merges with Selvac to from Mehl/Biophile. The audacious
press release begins, "A new God-given era began for
shareholders of SelvacCorp.began Tuesday."
December: Mehl terminates the Sharplan venture with Laser
Industries and sues to keep them from using SLS technology.
1997
March: Chromos 694 ruby laser is cleared by FDA.
1998
February: Rival laser company Palomar Medical Technologies
Inc. won a judgment to invalidate a patent for laser-hair
removal held by MEHL.
June: MEHL requested a hearing before Nasdaq's listing panel
on plans of the exchange to delist its stock from the SmallCap
Market. Nasdaq cited the company's failure to meet the requirements
for continued listing.
August: Mehl's largest unsecured creditor, Clearwater Funds,
took legal action to force Mehl/Biophile into involuntary
bankruptcy. It was hovering around 2 cents a share at the
time, off its high of $9.00
1999
March: The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a
complaint against Mehl for not filing its Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 1998, and 2 subsquent
quarterlies.
May: Mehl dies after a long illness.
September: A federal appeals court upholds a lower court
decision that Palomar did not infringe on a Mehl patent.
2000
Hamilton-Biophile Companies is formed by merging Hamilton-Clarke
and the remains of Mehl/Biophile following the removal of
all Mehl management. The electric tweezer device is sold by
this company, which seems to have convince former civilian
defense contractors to work for them with promises of stock.
SLS Biophile in the UK seems to operate separately.
Miscellaneous names and addresses associated with Mehl:
BMC industries Paul Burke, 44 Chairman, CEO
Mehl Consumer Division 7321 Roseville Road, Suite 10 Sacramento,
CA 95842
Domain Name: FINALLYFREE.COM
Gilbert, GF (GG877) gfgilbert@MSN.COM
Biophile USA Inc. 8776 Killdee #100 Orangevale, CA 95662 916-988-8950
Hamilton-biophile Nasdaq: HCHB
Finally Free Consumer Products 7321 Roseville Road, Suite 10
Sacramento, CA 95842 800-506-9430
A PR release by Greg Gilbert dated 2 Oct 2000, he claimed that
Hamilton-Biophile Companies (“HCHB”), formerly MEHL/Biophile
International Companies was paying off its over $12 million
in debt with stock instead of cash. The Company filed Chapter
11 protection when it was unable to present audited financial
statements due to the extreme costs of accounting for the activities
which took place when Clearwater Funds was forced to protect
itself by filing an involuntary bankruptcy petition. That bankruptcy
was dismissed when Mr. Gilbert took over the company, and arranged
for Clearwater Funds to take most of the assets and stock. According
to the documents, a central reason for the filing of the Chapter
11 proceedings on January 3rd, 2000, was the inability of the
Company's management to provide an audited accounting due to
the stopping of all operations.
major supplier, United Productions
sales representatives, Skolnick & Associates.
The plan also provides for bringing suit against the Mehl estate,
and the acquisition of all patents from them due to "work
for hire" rules, and other factors.
Other aspects of the plan include acquiring Hamilton-Clarke
Industries, a company with many products, as a subsidiary, giving
preferred stock relating only to its success, and $500,000 worth
of HiEnergy Microdevices, a high tech company in Irvine California
with a non-invasive neutron beam technology.
hair removal
facts
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