Two Chinese Corporations fight in Indiana Federal Court over Diamond Wall Panels

Happy New Year! Here’s a bit of an oddball case to kick off Indiana intellectual property litigation in 2024. Both parties in this copyright lawsuit are Chinese corporations, but the defendant apparently does business in Indiana. The defendant is alleged to have infringed the plaintiff’s copyright in a “Diamond Tile,” a square or rectangular wall panel having a three-dimensional design formed by various diamond-like elements. The defendant’s sales of the allegedly infringing wall panels took place on Amazon.com.

The Complaint is relatively short, just 4 pages, and has no specifically defined cause, although it seems to be for copyright infringement. We’ll be interested to learn more about the defendant’s relationship with Indiana as the lawsuit progresses. Presumably either the infringing wall panels are manufactured in Indiana or are distributed by Amazon from Indiana.

Here is the plaintiff’s wall panel design:

And here is the defendant’s design:

What do you think? Are the designs substantially similar?

Stay tuned for updates.

Guangzhou Shima Decoration Materials Co., Ltd v. Shenzhen Ruimingxiang Technology Co., Ltd.

Court Case Number: 1:24-cv-00041-RLY-TAB
File Date: January 8, 2024
Plaintiff: Guangzhou Shima Decoration Materials Co., Ltd
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift, Harold C. Moore, Travis W. Baxter of Maginot, Moore & Beck, LLP
Defendant: Shenzhen Ruimingxiang Technology Co., Ltd.
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Richard L. Young
Referred To: Tim A. Baker

Complaint: