Federal Court Orders Seizure of Chinese Tile Catal
Orlando, FL, May 10--Judge G. Kendall Sharp of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued two Orders of Seizure against Onna Ceramiche and its affiliates on May 6.
Onna Ceramiche claims to be a China-based manufacturer of ceramic tile. The orders were issued at the request of Ceramiche Marca Corona, S.p.A. and Viva SRL, two leading Italian manufacturers of ceramic
tiles.
The order requires, in part, that Onna Ceramiche cease from distributing the brochures and that the United States Marshall seize the brochures and any similar brochures bearing photographs copied from the catalogs of the two Italian companies.
The Italian companies are represented by David S. Oliver, Esq. and John A Boudet, Esq. of the Orlando office of Greenberg Traurig, P.A.
Orlando was the site of Coverings, the largest tile and stone show in the United States. Tile manufacturers from throughout the world exhibit at the show. Even prior to the show the Plaintiffs had been aware of the defendant¹s propensity to imitate the design of their products as well as the marketing techniques utilized by Plaintiffs in publicizing their tiles.
The Italian companies filing the complaint claim the defendant has wrongfully appropriated those expenditures by not only copying, in the minutest detail, the tiles themselves, but even by scanning and utilizing the pictures and tile layouts found in Plaintiff¹s marketing brochures.
As stated by Mr. Fabrizio Zanfi, the President of Viva, the photographs used by the defendant to market its tiles, are, in fact, Viva products and not made by Onna.
Similarly, Mr. Ivano Chiletti, the President of Ceramiche Marca Corona, stated that the offending catalog falsely suggests that the products depicted in the catalog are designed manufactured and sold by the defendant, rather than Marca Corona.
Mr. Sergio Sassi, the President of Assopiastrelle, the Association of Italian Ceramic Tile Manufacturers, commented after the seizure took place on the trade show floor that he was very pleased that the American courts are available to distinguish between what is fair competition and what is unfair competition and to provide relief for those companies, both domestic and foreign whose rights are violated.
