USA TODAY International Edition
Tempur-Pedic accuses Mattress Firm of conspiracy
Latest salvo claims look, feel of products similar
Tempur-Pedic has filed a lawsuit against Mattress Firm, accusing the retailer of “conspiring” to sell products that bear a strong resemblance to its mattresses.
The allegation marks an escalation of a bitter feud between the two companies after Mattress Firm last year ended its contract to sell Tempur-Sealy International mattresses in its more than 3,300 U.S. stores.
Mattress Firm, the nation’s largest mattress retailer, is reeling from declining sales, overexpansion and a financial scandal at its parent company, Steinhoff International.
Tempur-Sealy’s North American division said in court papers that Mattress Firm has been selling a product marketed as “Therapedic,” “copying the look and feel of the entire TempurPedic brand and consumer experience.”
“MF’s products, and the environment in which MF is selling them, are so strikingly similar to Tempur-Pedic’s products and sales environment that consumers will inevitably be confused and harmed,” Tempur-Pedic North America lawyers said Tuesday in the lawsuit. “Consumers will incorrectly believe that MF is still an authorized seller of Tempur-Pedic products when it is not.”
Tempur-Sealy, which has faced declining sales since losing the Mattress Firm deal, demanded that the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida take action to block its rival from selling the Therapedic products.
After the Tempur-Sealy contract cancellation last year, Mattress Firm signed a deal to get mattresses from Tempur-Sealy rival Serta Simmons.
Mattress Firm has closed hundreds of stores over the last year and is said to be considering bankruptcy, according to Reuters. Among other issues, the company is grappling with the fallout from an intense competition with online bed-in-a-box rivals and the consequences of heavy discounting.