Trouble In Chair-adise — Williams Sonoma (West Elm) Is Suing Amazon Over Copycat Furniture

By Emily | SEO Manager

Dec 21, 2018 @ 8:12 AM MST

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west elm store front

Take a seat, Amazon (though not literally).

The retail giant Amazon is in some hot water now that Williams Sonoma has accused them of copying furniture from their West Elm brand. The product in question is this velvet orb chair, with West Elm and Amazon offering very similar options. It appears that due to this lawsuit, Amazon has removed the product from their website, but you can see the similarity below.

amazon chair vs west elm chair onlineparison

It’s hard to deny that the chairs look extremely similar. Still, what does this mean for other product lines with onlineparable furniture to high-end brands? There’s no doubt that low-cost furniture dupes exist like these Target and Walmart finds that look very similar to Anthropologie.

We know there’s a lot of thought and design that go into the high-end brand products, but Hip2Save readers love our budget-friendly finds (and our wallets love them, too), so we’ll keep churning out the high vs. low onlineparisons for your shopping convenience!

What are your thoughts on this lawsuit, and which styles are you trying to achieve for less?

Let us know in the onlinements for our next high vs. low onlineparison post!

Join The Discussion

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Aleshia December 21, 2018 at 8:18 am MST

👏👏👏👏good for them! I’m so sick of Amazon fakes and knockoffs not only being sold by third parties but Amazon as well. I have said this repeatedly on hip2save that it has been the worst year in the last four years as a member. Constant fakes like the L.O.L, magnolia market cookbook, Fingerlings, back brace, and so much more. They need to overhaul their sellers and merchandise.

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Dorothy December 21, 2018 at 11:27 am MST

I don’t mind copycat items for lower budgets, but to purposely advertise your item as an actual branded item (LOL, Coach, etc) when it is not, that’s where I find fault.

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Nicole December 21, 2018 at 8:51 pm MST

They had knock off magnolia table books?! I have one wrapped under the tree from Amazon! I didn’t think to look thru it! 😬😬😬

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Cate December 21, 2018 at 8:40 am MST

Ridiculous!! Really all industries copy from each other. Look at fashion, everything from shoes, handbags, clothes and jewelry. Toys are even copied from high end manufacturing onlinepanies.

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riss December 21, 2018 at 8:51 am MST

I agree. Everything is being copied, and the consumers will decide which ones they want to give their money to. Unless there’s a patent on this design, I’d say West Elm is just worried that their sales are (going) down because there are better options out there. Free market.

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Melissa Rice December 21, 2018 at 8:43 am MST

I am with West Elm on this, the chairs are identical. It’s Ok to make onlineparable/ similar items but here it’s onlineplete plagiarism. It’s not fair that some onlinepanies will invest in research and design only to have their product stolen and marketed for a lower price.

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Gail December 21, 2018 at 8:45 am MST

This design has been around forever, this is ridiculous.

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Helen in Meridian December 21, 2018 at 10:31 am MST

I agree, this style has been made in plastic for ages. Adding a a little polyester velvet doesn’t make it original

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ashley December 21, 2018 at 8:52 am MST

While I’m all for respecting other’s intellectual property, this seems kind of ridiculous. This mid-century style furniture has been around for years and is likely a carbon copy of something vintage anyway.

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duh December 21, 2018 at 8:57 am MST

Are the stars going to sue target too for copying their attire and can be bought at target for less?

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kharrington December 21, 2018 at 9:11 am MST

😂😂🤗🤗🤗🤗👏👏👏

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K December 21, 2018 at 9:04 am MST

As someone that owns a handmade home decor/lighting business it sucks when someone knock off your original designs. That being said the west elm version is a mid century modern knock off so they are taking it a little too far

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kharrington December 21, 2018 at 9:10 am MST

Let’s call a spade a spade here….everything is a knock off of something else. Think king Arthur flour and say aldi flour…or any lower end food item that is less expensive but “onlineparable”? Anyone who is making a big deal about this should never again buy anything that is less than full name brand and the original designer. Take a look at clothes designers…they look at the runway items of high fashion models and make their brand similar at an affordable cost. I call BS!

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Tiff December 21, 2018 at 9:16 am MST

I like what you did there with the title of this post 😉

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Debby December 21, 2018 at 9:37 am MST

And Target is always constantly being sued because they steal other peoples designs as well.

Zara is famous for ripping of designs from the runway shows….. unfortunately that is what happens. My sister is a graphic artist and is always asked by very large well-known famous onlinepanies to design logos for them and then when she gives them a sample they steal it and they don’t pay her because their so called art department tweaks her design just a little bit. There are many onlinepanies that we all use that have no respect for intellectual property.

But I do find it funny that West Elm is going to sue Amazon because the designs looks just like their’s. But if I go into target….. target has the same exact design. So …did target steal the idea from West Elm? Or did West Elm steal the design from Target??? And since everybody’s stuff looks the same the only difference is the quality and the price factor.

I think West Elm is going to have a really hard time winning the lawsuit against Amazon

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Sunflower December 21, 2018 at 9:46 am MST

I would love to know how West Elm came up with this “original” design. I’m 100% sure I came across 10 different variations of this chair in my adult life.

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shelly December 21, 2018 at 9:58 am MST

So, if this lawsuit wins, then Kohls, Michaels, Jo-Ann, Hobby Lobby, Kirklands, Target, Big Lots, and Walmart should all be sued for stealing the “Magnolia Farms” farmhouse look then! They made replicas of the exact same sayings they had on the show. At least Joanna had the right idea…if you cant beat ’em, join ’em! And hooked up with her own Target line.

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Glo December 21, 2018 at 10:02 am MST

I don’t think you can sue for stealing a chair design? Right?! It’s not trade marked or patented. Just like fashion isn’t either so this is clearly a waste of money on West Elm’s side. It sucks to lose customers bc they can buy similar products for less but there’s no merit behind this lawsuit.

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Layla December 21, 2018 at 10:04 am MST

You know what they say
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Carole December 21, 2018 at 10:19 am MST

First, I honestly just read this for the title.

Second, I saw this exact same chair at At Home yesterday, so it looks like there are going to be quite a few lawsuits

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Rachel December 21, 2018 at 11:03 am MST

I find it hard to believe that west elm owns any rights to this chair design bc I’ve seen this same chair several times in several colors over my 34 years and those memories date back to the early 80s when velvet was popular. They are taking things a bit far. I doubt their sales are hurting too much. Bc if you want a cheaper chair, you go to amazon but if you want a better quality chair, you go to west elm. Depends on the market.

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Ivan December 21, 2018 at 11:47 am MST

Didn’t know furniture designs could be trademarked. We all love amazon, but I think a public backlash is brewing against them.

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Lococo December 30, 2018 at 9:11 pm MST

This is very similar to Eero Saarinen chair without arms. IKEA would be in big trouble by now.

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