In lawsuit, competitor charges Wayfair is a leeching copycat

High-end worldly retailer Williams-Sonoma yesterday sued Back Bay-based Wayfair for patent infringement, charging the Back Bay-based institution has copied galore of its home-furnishing designs to effort to foist them connected an unsuspecting nationalist arsenic "exclusive to Wayfair."

"This is wrong, and it indispensable stop," Williams-Sonoma declared successful its suit, filed successful US District Court successful Boston. William-Sonoma, which besides sells cookware and costly snacks, is seeking an extremity to the alleged copying of its West Elm-branded goods arsenic good arsenic capable damages to marque Wayfair deliberation doubly earlier doing it again.

Williams-Sonoma said it has plan patents connected galore chairs, lamps and different location furnishings and that Wayfair has repeatedly ignored demands to sound it disconnected with the sound offs:

This is acold from the archetypal clip Wayfair has misappropriated West Elm’s work. West Elm has been forced to nonstop galore cease and desist letters implicit the years to constabulary Wayfair’s blatant copying of West Elm’s designs and efforts to commercialized of its goodwill. Despite those letters putting Wayfair connected explicit announcement of WSI’s rights, Wayfair’s wrongful behaviour continues.

In immoderate cases, William-Sinoma said, Wayfair had the nervus to accidental its knockoffs were "West Elm inspired." But there's inspiration and past there's outright appropriation:

Its behaviour goes good beyond drafting “inspiration” from the West Elm brand, but rather, coupled with its usage of West Elm patented designs, Wayfair is competing unfairly and deliberately attempting to free-ride connected the goodwill of West Elm.

Complete complaint (1.7M PDF).