Universal wins copyright suit over Collezione Europa
Collezeione says it will appeal
Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, September 27, 2007
HIGH POINT — A North Carolina court has found case goods importer Collezione Europa guilty of copyright infringement for representing Universal Furniture product as its own in its High Point Market showroom.
On Sept. 14, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that Collezione Europa violated the federal Lanham Act barring unfair competition and North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The case involves Universal’s Grand Inheritance and English Manor collections, introduced in 2001 and 2002.
Collezione Europa issued a statement saying it disagrees with the judge’s rulings and believes they are contrary to the prior appeals in this case. The company said it expects the decision to be reversed on appeal after damages are issued. An attorney for the company, Nicholas Mesiti, said Collezione will argue that the pieces were not subject to copyright protection.
The district court rejected Collezione Europa’s challenges and held that Universal owns valid copyrights in the Grand Inheritance and English Manor collections, and that Collezione Europa infringed on those copyrights through the creation, promotion, and distribution of its “20000” and “20200” collections.
To read the court's findings in the case, click here.
Universal is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Collezione’s sales of the products and for impoundment and destruction of infringing items.
Court documents said retailer Rhodes Furniture was a major purchaser of Universal’s English Manor and Grand Inheritance collections until Universal altered its credit terms.
In August 2004, the documents said, senior Rhodes buyer James Hendrick approached Collezione Europa about creating substitute to replace the lines. Collezione said it obtained a display set of the new lines from Chinese manufacturer Art Heritage, and introduced the copies during the October 2004 High Point Market.
Universal employees learned that Collezione was displaying the same or nearly identical pieces in its showroom. Stephen Giles, senior vice president of merchandising for Universal, went to Collezione’s showroom and took photos of what he believed were actual English Manor pieces. Some had a production sticker on the back showing a date and the letters “LC.” (Universal’s parent company in China is manufacturer Lacquer Craft.)
Universal sent Collezione a cease-and-desist order, claiming copyright infringement. Collezione said it would redesign the lines to make them distinguishable from Universal models and submit them to Universal for review prior to marketing them.
When the redesign was complete, Collezione showed the pieces at the San Francisco furniture show in January 2005 and advertised the sets in Furniture/Today without providing Universal any notice, court documents said. Collezione eventually submitted the designs to Universal, but didn’t mention it was already marketing them. While the designs were different, Universal felt they were still too similar and filed suit.
Collezione claimed that the furniture couldn’t be copyrighted because its design elements were taken from the public domain, among other points in its defense.
But the court ruled that pieces, designed by 30-year design veteran Steven Russell, met the threshold for originality.
“The court’s ruling is a major victory for Universal Furniture and the entire furniture industry,” Universal CEO Randy Chrisley said in a released statement. “We believe it sends a powerful message to all players: If you work hard and invest in creativity, like Universal Furniture does, the law is going to protect you; but if you copy other people’s work, you are going to be held accountable.”
