A local office equipment maker has found itself in the middle of a patent complaint over its flagship product.
Coppell-based Vari, a workspace equipment company, was one of five businesses named in a patent infringement complaint lodged with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) by VersaDesk, a desk-making subsidiary of Versa Products. At the center of the complaint, VersaDesk alleges, is a patent infringement on the company’s standing desk model.
U.S. companies VIVO, FEZIBO and Stand Steady Company, along with China-based Loctek Ergonomic Technology Corporation were also named in the complaint.
“Versa Products has long been an innovator in office furniture, and it is determined to defend its intellectual property against VARIDESK and other copiers of its patented technology,” VersaDesk said in a statement.
According to VersaDesk, Vari’s Varidesk Electric Pro Plus 32 Stand Up Desktop Converter product “unlawfully and without authorization, import into the United States, sale for importation into the United States and/or sale within the United States after importation of certain height-adjustable desk platforms and components thereof that infringe, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, at least one or more claims.” The issue revolves around a patent regarding the company’s electric height-adjustable desktop, and the sliding and elevation mechanisms that power it.
Vari did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
VersaDesk claims its Power Pro model was the first commercially successful electric height-adjustable desktop available on the market. The subsidiary’s parent company was founded in 1999, while Vari was launched in 2013.
Until February of this year, Vari was called Varidesk. The company rebranded itself to Vari to reflect that its product line involves more than just adjustable desks. In addition to workspace equipment, Vari has also entered the real estate workspace market with VariSpace, which has locations in Irving and Southlake. In 2018 Vari acquired K-12 standing desk maker Stand2Learn for an undisclosed amount.
The complaint by VersaDesk is asking the U.S. ITC to launch an investigation into the matter to conclude within 15 months, as well as forbid the importation and sale of the alleged infringing products.
“Now more than ever, American ingenuity is needed, and this win for Versa is one small step in re-establishing "Made in America" as the byword for superior quality and innovation,” the company said.
