MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Hooker Furniture has launched a lawsuit against GTR Leather for allegedly infringing on patent rights - specifically that GTR's "Model M198" sofa infringes on its Savion Chesterfield-style reclining sofa.
Hooker's Savion motion seating line - one of its best-selling power seating lines - includes a sofa, chair, sectional, and loveseat. Hooker says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent No. D884, 378 (“the ’378 Patent”) for the collection on May 19.
GTR Leather's Model M198 sofa
"To the extent that any specific details or individual elements of the design of the infringing products, when viewed in isolation, differ from the patented design, any such differences do not alter the overall impression, as viewed by an ordinary observer, that the design of the infringing products is substantially the same as the patented design claimed in the ’378 Patent," Hooker explains in the suit.
Hooker says it sent GTR Leather a letter about the patent on April 3, providing GTR with "a reasonable window to take remedial action prior to the filing of this complaint."
The company seeks a permanent and preliminatry injuction against the production, importing, and distribution of the infringing Model M198 line; court costs and attorney fees; and an award of all profits made by the infringing product. It seeks a jury trial.
Hooker Furniture is the fourth-largest residential furniture maker in North America. It runs multiple divisions, including Home Meridian, Bradington-Young, Sam Moore Furniture, Pulaski, and Samuel Lawrence. It saw annual sales of around $590 million in 2017 and it runs three manufacturing plants (one in North Carolina, one in Virginia, and another in Vietnam).
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