Kohler Co. v. Sweethome d/b/a Sweethome247.com, Case No. 2:23-cv-06889 (C.D. California, Aug. 22, 2023)

The Kohler Co. is pursuing design patent infringement claims for one of its many fixtures. The Wisconsin-based company says an importer is profiting from Kohler’s designs and has filed a patent infringement lawsuit to stop Sweethome from selling certain faucets.

Sweethome, an online retailer which does business as Sweethome247.com, was named as the defendant in the Aug. 22 lawsuit filed in the Central District of California. In the lawsuit, Kohler alleges that “Sweethome has a pattern and practice of knocking off Kohler’s novel and distinctive faucet designs.” 

Kohler alleges 13 instances of patent infringement involving patented kitchen and bathroom faucet designs. An example of one of the asserted patents, USD D852,326, is below, along with the accused infringing design:

One of Kohler's patents

Sweethome’s alleged infringement

The lawsuit claims that in late 2021, Kohler attorneys informed Sweethome of the alleged infringements and Sweethome agreed to immediately take those products off of its website and stop selling them. 

But Kohler says Sweethome did not, in fact, stop selling the disputed faucets, and despite repeated follow-ups, they continue to deliberately infringe upon Kohler’s patent rights, according to the lawsuit. Sweethome has not yet responded to the Complaint as of the date of this post.