A Delaware federal judge dismissed the majority of patent claims against L’Oreal USA Inc. in a decision handed down this week, avoiding taking them to a trial that could have resulted in the company paying $275.5 million or more in damages.

In what’s seen as a rare move, U.S. District Judge Colm F. Connolly of the District of Delaware found the skincare-related claims by the University of Massachusetts and Carmel Laboratories, represented by Farnan and Susman & Godfrey, were invalid due to indefiniteness.