ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 20, 1996 TAG: 9611200020
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
SAM MOORE WAS SUED by a New York company claiming patent infringement. Now, the Bedford manufacturer is fighting back.
In the furniture industry, the distinction between flattery and theft is sometimes blurry.
Like all artists, furniture designers don't work in a vacuum, and they're quick to admit they sometimes get inspiration for new designs from existing pieces. If those ideas are part of the design vernacular - universally used elements - there are seldom problems.
But when one manufacturer claims exclusive rights to a design, challenges may arise. Two pending patent-related suits involving a Bedford chair maker illustrate both the difficulties in patenting furniture design and a growing desire among manufacturers to protect their ideas.
Sam Moore Furniture Industries Inc. was sued last month by New York furniture manufacturer the Pace Collection Inc. In the suit, filed Oct. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Pace alleges that Sam Moore willfully copied a patented chair design.
Last week, Sam Moore filed a suit in federal court in Roanoke claiming that Pace's design isn't unique, asking the court to declare the patent invalid.
At issue is a chair that Sam Moore calls "Excalibur," a piece the Bedford company began producing this year. It retails for around $850.
Pace claims the chair is an intentional knock-off of its "Venezia" chair, which was designed by Adam Tihany and is the centerpiece of the company's Tihany collection. Pace patented the design in June 1995. The leather-upholstered chair, sold in limited quantities only in Pace showrooms, has a list price of $4,440.
But Sam Moore, in its suit, says the design has been manufactured, in various forms, by other furniture companies.
"They don't have a design that is patentable," said James Jennings, Roanoke attorney for Sam Moore. Although Pace did apply for and receive a design patent, he said, the New York company never proved in court that the elements of the design are unique to Pace's chair. Sam Moore's suit asks the court to invalidate the patent..
Pace's attorney, Alexandra Malatestinic, said her client's patent is "entirely valid." This is not the first time Pace has been involved in potential infringement cases, she said. In the past, she said, Pace has always tried to settle the disputes out of court.
Furniture manufacturers and patent attorneys both say design copying is becoming a much more publicized issue than in past years. Several cases have been settled in Southwest Virginia alone in recent months:
* This summer, a North Carolina jury decided in favor of Galax-based Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., which had been sued by Lexington Furniture Industries over an alleged design infringement. Lexington said Vaughan-Bassett's new Remembrances line was too similar to a Lexington collection. This was the second suit filed by Lexington against Vaughan-Bassett. The first one, filed last year, also alleged copying but was settled out of court.
In the more recent case, not only did the jury find in favor of Vaughan-Bassett, but it agreed with the company's countersuit charging that Lexington had attempted to stifle competition by claiming it had patents pending on several designs when, in fact, no patents had been applied for.
* Last year, Lane Co. Inc., an Altavista furniture maker well-known for its hope chests, won a $1.8 million judgment and a permanent injunction against a Taiwanese company, Yu Jaan Furniture Industrial Co., and several import and export firms, who were making and selling counterfeit copies of Lane's trademark item.
The heart-and-floral design on the chests, which were being sold in the Western United States, was almost identical to the design Lane used on its "Bountiful" cedar chest.
"It's a problem that's been around a long time, but it's escalating," said Brad Stewart, one of the founders of the three-year-old Foundation for Design Integrity. Stewart, who is president and CEO of San Francisco furniture maker Bradford Stewart & Co., blames the knock-off problem both on a shortage of good, original designs and on an "erosion of ethics."
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Illustration by staff. color.by CNB