Brownstone sues Somerton over BR pieces
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2007
Richmond, Calif. — Case goods importer Brownstone Furniture is suing Somerton Home Furnishings for allegedly copying items in one of Brownstone's best-selling bedrooms.
Brownstone has a design patent on the bed and nightstands in its Lisbon group and claims that Somerton's Signature collection copies both items.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif., alleges that Somerton is engaging in patent infringement, unfair competition and trade dress infringement. Brownstone wants Somerton to stop making the group and seeks undetermined damages due to lost sales.
Brownstone usually doesn't take such cases to court. The company, which has design patents on 85% of its product, said it has run into copies before but, in most cases, it tells the offender it has a patent and the offender stops selling it.
Brownstone officials said they launched Lisbon in 2005. Somerton's Signature came out in April 2006.
Somerton Office Manager Rita Ho acknowledged there are some similarities between items in the two groups. Those similarities, she said, are common in many bedroom sets on the market. But she said there also are plenty of differences the average consumer would notice when comparing the two groups.
"We are not here to jeopardize their business," she said. "This is not a direct copy as far as we are concerned. We stand by our integrity."
She also noted that Somerton's collection includes dining room and occasional, categories not in the Lisbon collection.
Robert Johnson, an attorney representing Somerton, said there are significant differences between the pieces that negate Brownstone's claim to design patent infringement.
"It's our position that Brownstone's claim to intellectual property rights are invalid and are not being infringed upon by Somerton Home Furnishings' product in any event," he said. "Brownstone is attempting to use the court system to stifle competition. We live in a society where competition is king. Somerton will beat Brownstone in the courtroom and the marketplace."
Brownstone officials disagree, saying that details such as the custom-designed hardware are the same.
"We feel it's a big violation," said company vice president and co-owner Reed Kingsley.
"We're not doing this to intentionally hurt anyone," said Brownstone president and co-owner Chris Kingsley. "We are doing this to protect ourselves and our dealers. The longer this lingers on, the more I think they (Somerton) have taken a lot of (our) business."
