Pan-American Products Sues Rooms to Go

On July 2, 2010, Pan-American Product & Holdings, LLC (Guilford Co., NC) sued Rooms to Go and several related entities for copyright infringement, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion and misappropriation, unfair competition and unfair and deceptive trade practices. The case is was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Pan-American alleges rights in certain aspects of the "Retro Collection," including (1) a collection of panels with alternating grains in order to create a sense of depth and visual tension; and (2) tapered appliques. The designer of the Retro Collection met with representatives of RTG and it was agreed that RTG would sell the Retro Collection and use Pan-American as a broker in acquiring the furniture from manufacturers. As part of this agreement, samples of the Retro Collection were provided to RTG. After further negotiations, the deal stalled.

Several years later, RTG released the "Chaplin Collection." Pan-American alleges that the Chaplin Collection infringes its rights in the Retro Collection and RTG did not use Pan-American as the broker. RTG's Chaplin Collection is shown below: