Quaker Fabrics Files Copyright Infringement Suits
April 15, 2002
Fall River, MA (USA) - Quaker Fabrics Corporation has filed copyright infringement suits to protect itself against imported products that the company claims are copies of its designs.
"We are no longer willing to deal quietly with fabric importers, fabric distributors, furniture manufacturers and furniture retailers who fail to respect our right to enjoy the benefit of the designs we have worked so hard to produce," said Larry Liebenow, President and CEO of Quaker. "We currently have copyright infringement actions pending against fabric distributors in various jurisdictions which we filed in response to infringing products they were bringing into the U.S. Product and product design are what this industry is all about, and we spend millions of dollars each year on the design and development of one-of-a-kind fabric patterns specifically intended to give us and our customers a product advantage in the market. Instead, we are taking our concerns to the court system, and are determined to continue doing that until those who would take what does not belong to them understand that doing so will come with a price."
Quaker Fabric Corporation is a leading manufacturer of woven upholstery fabrics for furniture markets in the United States and abroad, and the largest producer of jacquard upholstery fabric in the world. For the year ended December 29, 2001, the Company had net sales of $331.1 million, net income of $9.5 million, and diluted and basic earnings per share of $0.58 and $0.61, respectively.
"We are no longer willing to deal quietly with fabric importers, fabric distributors, furniture manufacturers and furniture retailers who fail to respect our right to enjoy the benefit of the designs we have worked so hard to produce," said Larry Liebenow, President and CEO of Quaker. "We currently have copyright infringement actions pending against fabric distributors in various jurisdictions which we filed in response to infringing products they were bringing into the U.S. Product and product design are what this industry is all about, and we spend millions of dollars each year on the design and development of one-of-a-kind fabric patterns specifically intended to give us and our customers a product advantage in the market. Instead, we are taking our concerns to the court system, and are determined to continue doing that until those who would take what does not belong to them understand that doing so will come with a price."
Quaker Fabric Corporation is a leading manufacturer of woven upholstery fabrics for furniture markets in the United States and abroad, and the largest producer of jacquard upholstery fabric in the world. For the year ended December 29, 2001, the Company had net sales of $331.1 million, net income of $9.5 million, and diluted and basic earnings per share of $0.58 and $0.61, respectively.