Halo Creative Design Wins Significant Case Against Comptoir Des Indes to Protect its Intellectual Property Rights
This morning, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a permanent injunction in furtherance of last week’s jury verdict in the patent, trademark and copyright infringement suit brought by Halo Creative Design (Halo), of Hong Kong, against furniture distributor and infringer Comptoir Des Indes (CDI), of Montreal, Quebec. Last week’s verdict by a federal jury sitting in Chicago awarded Halo and its Creative Director Timothy Oulton a sweeping victory over CDI in a case involving Halo’s most iconic furniture and lighting designs. The case, filed in October 2014, involved two of Halo’s U.S. Design Patents, including one covering Halo’s award-winning Aviator Tomcat Chair, Halo’s Odeon™ trademark covering an entire line of cascading crystal chandeliers and lamps, and Halo’s nine copyrights in many of its other well-known and best-selling furniture and lighting designs, including Halo’s “caged” Gyro Crystal Chandelier. The jury found that CDI’s patent infringement, trademark infringement and copyright infringement were each knowing and willful.
The Court’s permanent injunction prohibits CDI from selling, offering or sale, or promoting the infringing products within the United States. That prohibition also extends to CDI’s e-commerce platform distributors that generate sales orders for the infringing CDI products for CDI to fill, after the permanent injunction issued at 9:30 Central Standard Time this morning. The Court also entered an Order today awarding Halo pre-judgment interest on the amount awarded by the jury, bringing Halo’s total damages award to nearly $US 3.8 million.
When asked for comment, Emily Haslam, Halo’s General Counsel stated “The Halo Group is sincerely gratified that the Federal Court and the Jury have recognized Halo’s intellectual property rights in its iconic furniture and lighting designs. This is a landmark case, for Halo, our legal team and the entire furniture and lighting design industry in the US. We are particularly pleased that the Court acknowledged and vindicated our copyright rights in many of our original furniture and lighting designs. Original designers should not have to stand by and watch copyists flood the global market with cheap imitations of their genuine products.”
The Halo Group was represented by the Chicago Office of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
The Halo Group has been at the forefront of innovation in the furniture industry since its inception in 1976. The company is a world leader in the luxury furniture and lifestyle markets, providing customers with exquisite, authentically handcrafted products. Established in England, the Group now operates from its worldwide headquarters in Hong Kong, and maintains a UK head office in Styal, Cheshire.
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