Foam mattress maker Tempur-Pedic sues competitors

Claims a dozen companies are infringing on its patent

David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 11, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Memory foam leader Tempur-Pedic has sued more than a dozen other bedding producers for allegedly infringing on a patent protecting the design and construction of Tempur-Pedic's mattresses.

The suit claims patent violations by some of the biggest names in the bedding industry, including Sealy, Simmons and Serta, the industry's three largest producers. Also named are Carpenter, Englander, Classic Sleep, Anatomic Global, Bragada, Essentia, IR Specialty Foam, Jeffco Fibres, Spirit Sleep, World Sleep Products, Serta Restokraft Mattress and Sleep Products Inc.

Bedding observers said they had never seen a leading producer file a suit alleging patent infringement on such a broad scale. There was no immediate response from the companies named in the lawsuit.

Tempur-Pedic said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued patent number 7,507,468 to Tempur-Pedic on March 24, covering a variety of mattress constructions with layers of visco-elastic and other foam materials.

The company filed the suit June 10 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

"Tempur-Pedic is committed to making significant investments to enhance the performance and durability of our products," said Matt Clift, executive vice president of global operations at Tempur-Pedic and head of its advanced technology and manufacturing group. "As part of our long-standing investment strategy, we work diligently to protect our proprietary technologies and we will vigorously defend our intellectual property from infringement."

The patent and lawsuit are not related to the formulation of Tempur-Pedic's proprietary Tempur material, the company said.