Haworth v. Exemplis - Complaint

8/20/2019 Haworth v. Exemplis - Complaint

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

_________________________

HAWORTH, INC.,

Plaintiff, Case No.

vs. Hon.

EXEMPLIS CORPORATION, COMPLAINT AND JURY

DEMAND

Defendant.

_______________________________________/

James Moskal (P41885)

Warner Norcross & Judd LLP

Attorney for Plaintiff900 Fifth Third Center111 Lyon Street, N.W.

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503(616) 752-2000

_______________________________________/

2:16-cv-10044-MAG-RSW Doc # 1 Filed 01/06/16 Pg 1 of 9 Pg ID 1


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Plaintiff complains against defendant as follows:

1. This is an action for patent infringement under Title 35 of the

United States Code, as to which the Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §

1338, and as to which venue lies under 28 U.S.C. § 1400. This is also an action for

trade dress infringement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125, as to which the

Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1338, and as to which venue lies

under 28 U.S.C. § 1391.

2. Plaintiff is a Michigan corporation having its principal place of

business in Holland, Michigan.

3. Defendant is a California corporation. Defendant does business

as SitOnIt Seating, and defendant has committed substantial acts of infringement in

this judicial district.

4. Plaintiff is an industry leader in the design and sale of office

chairs, among other products. One chair, known as plaintiff’s “Very Side” chair

within its “Very” line of chairs, is the subject of plaintiff’s United States Patent

No. D643,640 (the “Patent”), a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A.

5. The Patent was duly issued on August 23, 2011, and plaintiff is

the owner of it by assignment of the inventors.



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COUNT I

DESIGN PATENT INFRINGEMENT

6. Plaintiff incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1-5 above.

7. Defendant, without authority or license from plaintiff, has

intentionally made, used, offered to sell and sold chairs having product designs that

infringe the Patent, in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a). Upon information and

belief, defendant intentionally designed the infringing chairs to look like plaintiff’s

Very chair. Defendant markets the infringing chairs under the product name

“Rio.”

8. Exemplary comparisons of the patented design and the

infringing Rio design are set forth below.

HAWORTH ’640 PATENT RIO



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9. Defendant’s Rio chair infringes the Patent in at least the

following ways:

a. Single one-piece molded back

b. Two uprights on opposed sides of back

c. Angled notch on rear surface of each upright

d. Armrest pad proportion

e. Vertical armrest cap proportion

f. Armrest cap proportion

g. Outward turning top of seat back

h. Lower back opening shape



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i. Visible horizontal frame cross member

j. Vertical downward angled rear legs

k. Downward curling front seat edge

l. Outwardly protruding rear seat edge

m. Rear feet proportion

n. Front feet proportion

o. Overall size

p. Frame proportion

q. Gradual curving back

r. Rearward curving top and bottom back edges

s. Transitioning rear leg into armrest support

t. Rearward extending armrest

u. Cantilevered armrest

v. Angled armrest from rear leg

w. Back pivot point

x. Cylindrical legs

y. Angled lower rear leg

z. Seat proportion

aa. Back proportion



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10. Plaintiff provided written notice to defendant of defendant’s

infringement, but defendant has refused to cease its infringing activities.

11. Defendant is a direct competitor of plaintiff, and defendant’s

infringement has irreparably harmed plaintiff. Defendant will continue to infringe

unless enjoined by the Court.

12. Plaintiff is aware of the prosecution history of the Patent and

the decision in Pac. Coast Marine Windshields Ltd. v. Malibu Boats, LLC , 739

F.3d 694 (Fed. Cir. 2014). That decision does not properly preclude this

infringement claim.

COUNT II

TRADE DRESS INFRINGEMENT

13. Plaintiff incorporates the allegations in paragraphs 1-12 above.

14. For more than 30 years, plaintiff has continuously engaged in

the development, design, manufacture and sale of office chairs, and plaintiff has

become a premier source for office seating throughout the United States.

15. For approximately six years, plaintiff has extensively promoted

its Very line of chairs in national marketing campaigns and other advertising,

expending substantial time, effort and funds. These efforts have resulted in

significant sales.



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16. The configuration of plaintiff’s Very line of chairs constitutes

protectable, non-functional trade dress, including, depending on the chair:

a. The internal shape of the back opening

b. The shape of the back

c. The shape of the seat

d. The angle of the arm

e. The rearward extending armrest

17. The Very trade dress has resulted in considerable consumer

recognition and goodwill for plaintiff, and it has acquired secondary meaning by

which the relevant public identifies the Very line of chairs with plaintiff. The trade

dress is distinctive and has acquired distinctiveness in the minds of consumers.

The trade dress is depicted in attached Exhibit B.

18. Defendant’s marketing and sale of the Rio chair, as well as

other chairs in its Rio line, infringes plaintiff’s trade dress, as a result of which

plaintiff has been damaged. The infringing line of chairs, which corresponds to the

chairs in the Very line, is depicted in the attached Exhibit C. Defendant sells the

infringing line of chairs through the same marketing channels used by plaintiff.

19. Defendant’s marketing and sale of the Rio line of chairs has

caused and is likely to cause confusion concerning the source and origin of the

chair, or to cause mistake or to deceive.



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20. Defendant’s marketing and sale of the Rio line of chairs has

caused and is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the

affiliation, connection, or association of defendant with plaintiff or as to the origin,

sponsorship, or approval of the Rio line of chairs.

WHEREFORE, plaintiff requests that the Court:

(a) Enjoin defendant from infringing the Patent and plaintiff’s trade

dress;

(b) Award plaintiff damages and enhanced damages;

(c) Award plaintiff interest, cost and attorney fees; and

(d) Grant plaintiff all additional relief to which it is entitled.

JURY DEMAND

Plaintiff demands a trial by jury.

WARNER NORCROSS & JUDD LLP

Dated: January 6, 2016 By: s/ James MoskalJames Moskal (P41885)

Attorney for Plaintiff900 Fifth Third Center111 Lyon Street, N.W.

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503(616) 752-2000

001030.165302 #13654787-1



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EXH IBIT A

2:16-cv-10044-MAG-RSW Doc # 1-1 Filed 01/06/16 Pg 1 of 8 Pg ID 10


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I I I l i i i

US00D643640S

(12)

U n i t e d S t a t e s e s i g n P a t e n t

10) Patent No.:

S D643,640 S

DeSa nta et al 45)

Date of Patent: * Aug. 23, 2011

(54)

OFFICE

CHAIR

(75) Inventors: Simon DeSanta, Borgholzhausen (DE);

Nicolai Czumaj-Brant, Grand Rapids,

MI (US); Michael W. Welsh, Rockford,

MI (US)

(73) Assignee: Haworth, Inc., Holland, MI (US)

(**) Term: 4 Years

21 ) AppI. No.: 29/349,915

22)

Filed: ay 19, 2010

Related U.S. Application Data

(62) Division

of

application No. 29/307,666, filed on May

2,2008, now Pat. No. Des. 618,004.

51 )

LOC (9) Cl . ................................................. 06-01

52 ) U.S. Cl . ........................................................ D6/366

(58) Field of Classification Search ...........D6/374-376,

D6/379-380, 364-367, 334-336, 358, 356,

D6/500-502; 297/451,1, 447.1, 411.2, 41127,

297/411.28, 284.4, 45221, 452.29, 452.64,

297/445.1, 446.1

See application file for complete search history.

56)

eferences Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

D213,438 S 3/1969 Koch

4,648,653 A

3/1987

Rowland

D344,418 S 2/1994 Favaretto

D374,129 S

10/1996

Timmons

D433,578 S

11/2000 Saul

D516,830 S

3/2006 Leistetal,

D521,755 5

512006

Kinoshita etai.

.............

D6/366

D558,478 S 1/2008 Rothe

D564,245 S

3/2008

Dauphin

D6/366

D564,766 5

3/2008

Zimmermann et al

D6/366

D569,644 S

5/2008

Kuamzawa

D582,170 S 12/2008 Chi .................. .. ...........

D6/366

D586,136 5

2/2009 Valdiserri et al .

............. D6/366

D589,271 5 3/2009 Neil

..............................

D6/366

D597,33 I S 8/2009 Neil

......................

........

D6/366

D599,126 S 912009

Chen et al.

............. .......

D6/366

D600,954 S

9/2009

Kumazawa

D607,653 S

1/2010

Wilkinson etal.

............

D6/366

D609,482 5

2/2010

Englisch et al. .......

.......

D6/366

D613,087 S

4/2010

Fujita ............................

D6/366

D618,469 S 6/2010

Romero

..............

.......... D6/366

D627,983 S

11/2010

Wakasugi ctal...............

D6/366

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner - Caron D Veynar

AssistantExaminer

Abraham Bahta

(74)

Attorney Agent or Firm

- Flynn, Theil, Boutell

Tanis, P.C.

(57)

LAIM

The ornamental design for an office chair, as shown and

described.

DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a left, front perspective view

of an office chair

showing our new design;

FIG. 2 is a left, rear perspective view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a rear view thereof;

FIG. 5 is a top view thereof; and,

FIG. 6 is a left side view thereof.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Sheets



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U.S.

Patent

ug. 23, 2011

heet 1 of 6

IS P643,649 S

FIG. 1



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U.S. Patent

Aug. 23

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Sheet 2

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6

US D64

64

Plo



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U.S.

Patent

ug. 23, 2011

heet 3 of 6

S 0643,640 S

FIG. 3



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U.S. Patent

ug. 23, 2011

heet 4 of 6

S D643,640 S

FIG. 4



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U.S. Patent

ug. 23, 2011

heet of 6

S D 643,640 S

FIG. 5



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U .S. Patent

ug. 23, 201 1 heet 6 of 6

s D643,640 S

FIG. 6



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EXH IBIT B



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HAWDRTH

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Features

• 4-leg and wire rod multipurpose stacking chair and

café stools, light task chair and task steel models

• Transitional design

• ARC Technology (Active Rebound Control)

weight assisted flexback

• Exceptional support and comfort

• Fully upholstered, upholstered seat or plastic

• 47 plastic shell colors

• 2 frame finishes with matching arm pads

• Built-in pull handle

• Clean-out space

• Stacks 4 on floor, S on the optional cart

• 300 lbs. weight capacity

• Lifetime Warranty

• All options and 1,000 s of textiles ship in 2, 5 or

10 days

Options

FRAME TYPE

B A C K

S EAT

A R M S

A R M P A D C O L OR

i

B A S E F R A M E C O L OR

• 4-Leg

• Plastic

• Armless

Black •

Glides

• Black

•

27 café Stool

• Plast ic Back, • Fixed

i

•

Fog •

c as te rs

• Silver

•

30' café Stool Upholstered Seat (not available

• Light Task •

upholstered Back

br s tools)

Task Stool

i

S e e t

PIER OPTIONS

G anging Bracket

Stacking cart

Specif icat ions

ii

t

im ansi

o n e

are in inches.


Haworth v. Exemplis - Complaint

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