Culp, Inc. (NYSE: CFI) today announced that it has reached a resolution
of its copyright infringement dispute with SRA, LLC d/b/a SRA FABRICS
(“SRA”), concerning allegations that SRA infringed upon Culp’s “Congo”
fabric design by offering for sale a fabric called “Viper.” Culp’s Congo
design is protected by federal copyright laws and is registered with the
U.S. Copyright Office. As part of the resolution, SRA, based in New
York, has agreed not to reproduce, manufacture, order, distribute,
display, offer for sale or sell the Viper fabric or any fabric with the
same or substantially similar design as Culp’s copyrighted Congo design.
Frank Saxon, president and chief executive officer of Culp, Inc.,
commented, “Culp has invested a great deal of resources into creating
unique fabric designs, and we intend to protect our investment,
reputation, and goodwill by aggressively pursuing all forms of copyright
infringement. Protecting our copyrighted designs benefits not only Culp,
but also our valued customers and our industry as a whole. We believe
that Culp’s rights as a designer and producer of innovative fabrics
should be respected in the marketplace by everyone, including SRA. We
are pleased that we could resolve this dispute with SRA on favorable
terms for Culp.”
“Our industry has always been driven by innovation, creativity, design
and color,” added Liam Waters, vice president of sales, marketing and
design for Culp. “Culp has invested heavily in all of these areas and we
have received a great deal of credit from our loyal customers. It is
therefore in our best interest, as well as our customers’, that we
defend our intellectual property to the full letter of the law. We
appreciate that SRA has agreed to stop its activities with respect to
the Viper fabric.”
Culp, Inc. is one of the world’s largest marketers of mattress fabrics
for bedding and upholstery fabrics for furniture. The company’s fabrics
are used principally in the production of bedding products and
residential and commercial upholstered furniture.
Culp, Inc.
Kenneth R. Bowling, 336-881-5630
Chief
Financial Officer
