Bernhardt Files Declaratory Judgment Action

Bernhardt Furniture Company, based in Lenoir, North Carolina, filed a declaratory judgment action against patentee Dario Cesar Antonioni in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (Statesville Division) (Case No. 3:10-cv-81) on Mar. 1, 2010. Bernhardt filed the case in North Carolina after Antonioni filed an infringement action in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on Feb. 10, 2010.

The declaratory judgment action sets forth an interesting chronology of events. While Antonioni claims to be the sole inventor on U.S. Design Patent No. D527,196, filed Sept. 23, 2004, Bernhardt claims that independent furniture designer Jeffrey Bennett designed Bernhardt's accused furniture, the Balance collection. Bernhardt further alleges that it has documentary evidence the predates the '196 Patent's earliest claimed priority date and that Antonioni was provided with documents that should have been provided to the Patent Office. In addition, Bernhardt alleges that the '196 Patent is invalid for leaving off a co-inventor.

An image from the '196 Patent is below: