Baby arrier at the heart of a Patent Dispute between Líllébaby and Babybjörn.

A patent claim was filed on 6 March 2019 in connection with a child carrier which was designed and patented by US based Líllébaby. This was against a Swedish company that specialise in baby products, including baby carriers. This company, Babybjörn, was served documents by the US International Trade Commission over the apparent infringement.

Specifically, there were two patents that were at the forefront of the claim, and both regarding a design for child carriers. Interestingly, this claim is not an isolated dispute though, as it transpires there has been over 30 other companies which have been slapped with a lawsuit.

The design of this carrier has a clever ‘adaptive leg support’ which has been supposedly copied by these competitors even though the design is logged as being protected with a patent. One of the issues that Líllébaby had was that not only were their products being infringed, but they were also being infringed on its doorstep in the US. In turn, Líllébaby filed a what is known as a section 337 complaint with the US International Trade Commission yesterday, requesting an investigation into the importation of the allegedly infringing products.

This claim is not for small change either, with damages being claimed by Líllébaby which are being trebled and attorney fees being added for what they claim is ‘wilful infringement’. Líllébaby CEO Jeff Colton said that the company was seeking “to protect our intellectual property and support our ability to continue to innovate in ways that benefit parents and their children”. It is also being stressed that Líllébaby are requesting that the importing and the distribution including the advertisement and sale of the products in question to be prevented entirely.

We will keep a close eye on this lawsuit to see if Líllébaby do actually have adequate protection to stop the use of ‘adaptive leg supports’ and baby carriers designed in this way or whether others are actually out right copying the whole design.

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