Covington wins copyright round
By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, May 31, 2004
NEW YORK — NEW YORK — Fabric converter Covington Inds. has won a court ruling in its action against American Decorative Fabrics for copyright infringement.
A U.S. District Court judge here ruled last month that Covington's Maxwell design was sufficiently original and creative to be worthy of a copyright. ADF and its co-defendants had argued that it was a common plaid, not distinct enough for a copyright.
"The Maxwell design has a 17-inch repeat and a bird's-eye weave, which are both unusual and which are both part of ADF's plaid as well," said Russell Nuce, Covington's general counsel.
Nuce said the next step is for the court to compare the designs and decide if they are substantially similar, which is the decisive factor in an infringement ruling.
In 2002 Covington sued ADF and co-defendants, claiming that its copyrighted Maxwell plaid was sold by ADF and other defendants under the name Highland, later Hackney.
ADF, a Western-run Chinese mill with warehousing in the United States, is an affiliate of Home Fashions International and Westgate Fabrics. Techstyle Fabric and Charles "Nick" Nichols Jr. are also defendants. Nichols operates Techstyle, a Tupelo, Miss., company that distributes ADF's products. (It is not associated with Duralee's Techstyle contract division.)
Gary Stein, vice president of ADF, said that although his company "voluntarily agreed to refrain from moving forward with its new plaid pattern while the lawsuit was pending, it has been actively defending the case because it strongly believes that companies should not be permitted to monopolize a common plaid design."
