Dbrand, a popular skin and cases company, has initiated legal action against rival Casetify, alleging that Casetify blatantly copied its Teardown device skins and cases.
The company filed a lawsuit in Toronto court for an unspecified amount against Casetiy for 45 products of Inside Out, a brand by Casetify.
Dbrand’s Teardown was introduced in 2019 through a collaboration with YouTuber Zack Nelson, aka JerryRigEverything. It is a collection of device skins and cases resembling inner parts, creating an illusion of the device’s internals on the exterior.
Zack made a video about this issue, explaining how they found intellectual theft by Casetify and the process behind creating each Teardown design. First, the devices are meticulously disassembled and scanned using top-notch machinery.
Then, using software, the images are edited, and numerous additions are made to fit the backs of phones and other devices. Several easter eggs are also placed at this stage, such as a quote by JerryRigEverything — “Glass is glass and glass can break” or the numbers “11 11 11” that Dbrand puts up on their product line. The numbers signify the launch date of Dbrand as a company.
“Why would Casetify include the day that Dbrand was founded on their products?” asks YouTuber JerryRigEverything.
The legal dispute arose when Casetify launched phone cases showcasing similar ideas called Inside Parts. But people were quick to find out the discrepancies, with allegations that Casetify reused the same design across different phone models, undermining the accuracy of the representations. In response to these allegations, Casetify introduced a new line of cases named Inside Out, claiming consistency with the devices they were designed for.
As of now, Casetify has removed all the Inside Out products from their website.
However, the problems for Casetify did not stop there. Dbrand alleged that Casetify not only stored their designs but also rearranged them slightly to conceal the plagiarism.
Casetify came out with a tweet that said, “We are currently investigating a copyright allegation against us. We have immediately removed the designs in question from all platforms.”
The Verge reports that Casetify has allegedly replicated 117 designs by Dbrand, all copyrighted.
“If Casetify had simply created their own Teardown-esque design from scratch, we wouldn’t have anything to take issue with,” explained Adam Ijaz, CEO of Dbrand, in a conversation with The Verge.
Zack shared similar sentiments in his video. “Considering their size and cash flow, I don’t see why they couldn’t just buy a few phones, take them apart and do the work themselves.”
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