Covington Sues ADF for Bootlegging Damages
May 17, 2004
NEW YORK—Covington Industries Inc. has prevailed in a legal battle against American Decorative Fabrics, Inc., a supplier of Chinese-made upholstery fabric, for copyright infringement.
For the past two years, Covington has argued that ADF's Highland design, also known as Hackney, is a deliberate copy of Covington's Maxwell design, a basket weave plaid.
Since the Court upheld the validity of Covington's copyright on April 5, ADF has stopped selling the Highland design. The awarding of any damages is still to be determined. Marc Rachman of Davis & Gilbert LLP, New York, successfully handled Covington's case.
After two years of litigation and substantial legal costs, "Covington has sent a message to the entire world – and China in particular – that it will not tolerate its designs to be copied," said G. Russell Nuce, general counsel to Covington Industries Inc.
Covington representatives said the firm has sold in excess of one million yards of Maxwell primarily to the furniture industry since introducing it in 1998. The fabric is a U.S.-made, commission woven jacquard design with a 17-inch repeat and a basket weave – an atypical scale for a jacquard design, which is usually much smaller in the width of the repeat. The Highland design ADF imported from China is also a 17-inch repeat featuring a basket weave.
In defense of ADF, Richard Mandel of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman said that the Covington design lacked originality. But the Court ruled on April 5 that Maxwell's stripes, colors and basket weave were sufficiently original to merit a Covington copyright. Covington has copyrighted Maxwell in the U.S. and Canada.
Covington has another copyright infringement case pending against Techstyle, a distributor owned by Charles E. "Nick" Nichols Jr., for its Connor pattern, which Covington contends is also a copy of Maxwell.
"From my standpoint, copying of our textile designs has increased dramatically by Chinese suppliers, especially in the last two years," said Nuce, general counsel to Covington for the last six years. "At any one time, I am handling three to six infringement matters for Covington. Most of the infringing designs are produced in China."
"Covington devotes considerable time and resources to developing new and innovative designs which give us – and our customers – a competitive advantage," said Abby Gilmore, president and CEO of Covington Industries.
"As a result, we consider infringements of our designs a very serious matter and we go to great lengths to protect out rights in our original designs. We will continue to aggressively pursue these matters until those who infringe on our intellectual property rights get the message."
ADF is an affiliate of Home Fashions International Inc. and recently purchased Westgate Fabrics, a decorative jobber in Grand Prairie, TX. Both companies are owned by David Li and other partners.
For the past two years, Covington has argued that ADF's Highland design, also known as Hackney, is a deliberate copy of Covington's Maxwell design, a basket weave plaid.
Since the Court upheld the validity of Covington's copyright on April 5, ADF has stopped selling the Highland design. The awarding of any damages is still to be determined. Marc Rachman of Davis & Gilbert LLP, New York, successfully handled Covington's case.
After two years of litigation and substantial legal costs, "Covington has sent a message to the entire world – and China in particular – that it will not tolerate its designs to be copied," said G. Russell Nuce, general counsel to Covington Industries Inc.
Covington representatives said the firm has sold in excess of one million yards of Maxwell primarily to the furniture industry since introducing it in 1998. The fabric is a U.S.-made, commission woven jacquard design with a 17-inch repeat and a basket weave – an atypical scale for a jacquard design, which is usually much smaller in the width of the repeat. The Highland design ADF imported from China is also a 17-inch repeat featuring a basket weave.
In defense of ADF, Richard Mandel of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman said that the Covington design lacked originality. But the Court ruled on April 5 that Maxwell's stripes, colors and basket weave were sufficiently original to merit a Covington copyright. Covington has copyrighted Maxwell in the U.S. and Canada.
Covington has another copyright infringement case pending against Techstyle, a distributor owned by Charles E. "Nick" Nichols Jr., for its Connor pattern, which Covington contends is also a copy of Maxwell.
"From my standpoint, copying of our textile designs has increased dramatically by Chinese suppliers, especially in the last two years," said Nuce, general counsel to Covington for the last six years. "At any one time, I am handling three to six infringement matters for Covington. Most of the infringing designs are produced in China."
"Covington devotes considerable time and resources to developing new and innovative designs which give us – and our customers – a competitive advantage," said Abby Gilmore, president and CEO of Covington Industries.
"As a result, we consider infringements of our designs a very serious matter and we go to great lengths to protect out rights in our original designs. We will continue to aggressively pursue these matters until those who infringe on our intellectual property rights get the message."
ADF is an affiliate of Home Fashions International Inc. and recently purchased Westgate Fabrics, a decorative jobber in Grand Prairie, TX. Both companies are owned by David Li and other partners.
