Ashley Settles Lawsuit Aimed At Lifestyle Enterprise

May 13, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on May 2008 Ashley Furniture Inds., the nation’s largest furniture company, announced Tuesday that it has settled a lawsuit it brought against Lifestyle Enterprise, High Point, N.C., over patents it holds on its South Shore and North Shore bedroom sets.

In a brief, two-paragraph statement, Ashley officials said Lifestyle officials had agreed to stop selling the group that was at issue in the lawsuit and paid an undisclosed amount of money to Ashley.

“Ashley is pleased with the resolution of this matter and the confirmation of its patent rights,” officials said, according to the statement. “As a leader of innovation in the furniture industry, Ashley will continue to enforce its intellectual rights and will diligently pursue claims to protect these rights.”

A representative of Lifestyle Enterprise declined to comment on the matter.

Based in Arcadia, Wis., Ashley filed its action against Lifestyle in U.S. District Court in Wisconsin’s Western District in April 2007. In an answer to the lawsuit in June 2007, lawyers for Lifestyle argued that the items Ashley had patented had been “known or used by others” at least a year earlier.

The North Shore and South Shore bedrooms some online retailers are currently selling are large-scaled, ornately detailed collections with extensive carved elements and stone surfaces. The North Shore poster bed features four column-sized posts with a decorative metalwork frame linking the top of each post.