Emeco Files for a Preliminary Injunction Against Restoration Hardware

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Emeco Industries, Inc. has filed for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court here, seeking a range of remedies, including blocking Restoration Hardware from manufacturing, marketing, advertising, and selling its cheap knockoffs of Emecos iconic Navy Chair collection.

Were not going to stand by while Restoration Hardware steals our brand and trades on our reputation by selling an inferior product, said Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder. Its important for American companies to stand up for craftsmanship, quality and jobs. We not only want to stop Restoration Hardware but prevent others from doing similar damage to our economy.

Unlike Restoration Hardwares foreign-made knockoffs, Emecos Navy Chair is hand made by 54 craftspeople in Hanover, Pennsylvania, through a 77-step process. The company works with top designers and uses recycled waste to make high-quality, sustainable products. The Navy Chair, which is sold in 48 countries, is built to last 150 years.

The latest legal action comes as The New York Times published an article about the companys efforts to protect the world-renowned Navy Chair, which the newspaper said is at the core of Emecos business.

In the article, Once Again, Seeing Double, writer Julie Lasky quoted Buchbinder as saying: The Navy chair is what we center everything around. Its the heritage of our company. Emecos CEO later added: If I dont fight, it kills the company.

The motion, tentatively set for a hearing on Nov. 16, follows a federal lawsuit filed Oct. 1 against Restoration Hardware and its former CEO and present Creator and Curator Gary Friedman. The complaint alleges that the giant home furnishing retailer has engaged in willful and flagrant infringement of Emecos trade dress and trademark rights for its world-renowned Navy Chair by selling a series of cheap knockoffs with the near-identical Naval Chair name.

In seeking the injunction, Emeco argues that Restoration Hardwares actions will continue to cause irreparable harm to Emecos reputation unless the court intervenes. Emeco alleges that the knockoffs are a product of willful, intentional conduct that is part of Restoration Hardwares established practice of using others designs and trademarks for financial gain.

The motion points out that Restoration Hardware has been the focus of a half-dozen copying and infringement actions over the last decade, and cites a newspaper article in which the company is referred to as Replication Hardware.

Emeco says Restoration Hardware has in effect conceded a likelihood of consumer confusion over the chairs by removing the words Naval Chair from its website, and then, after the lawsuit was filed, apparently ceasing sales of the products. Nevertheless, Emeco argues that the injunction is necessary because Restoration Hardware already distributed millions of catalogs featuring the infringing products and continues to display the chairs on its website. And without an injunction, there is nothing to stop it from resuming its unlawful conduct at any moment, the motion says.

Originally posted here:
Emeco Files for a Preliminary Injunction Against Restoration Hardware