Yahoo Finance IKEA Hit With a Lawsuit for Allegedly Copying Another Company's Design
If we had to sum up IKEA's designs in one word, we'd call them "iconic." After all, most people can spot a BILLY Bookcase or BEKVAM Stepstool a mile away. But a German company named e15 claims the Swedish retailer copied their SL02 Mo bed with the MALM Bed frame - and they're taking them to court to prove it.
According to e15, their bed was designed by the company's co-founder, Philipp Mainzer, in 1999. It features a recessed platform with a thin ledge on both sides, a low footboard, and a higher headboard. All you have to do is look at pictures of both designs next to each other to see the similarities. Can you pick out which one is the MALM below?
Spoiler alert: It's the bed on the right. The major difference between the two are the materials used, as the e15 bed is made out of solid oak or walnut and the IKEA version is made with oak-veneered fiber and particleboard. This is one of the reasons e15's bed goes for $3,300 and IKEA's goes for between $179 and $249 (depending on the size). As you can imagine, the striking similarities and huge (!) price difference, is bad news for business for e15.
The lawsuit has already gone through the Dusseldorf courts and the results were in IKEA's favor on two different occasions. That's why e15 is appealing to Germany's supreme court and a ruling is expected to be made next year. Only time will tell if this bed is the second item from IKEA's MALM line that the company probably wishes it never sold.
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