Eames Office licenses the IP of Charles and Roy Eames. They created the Dot Pattern in 1949 and Eames Office published it as a fabric in 1999. The Pod Hotel obtained a swatch but did not purchase the licensed fabric. It instead allegedly purchased a ‘knock off’. The Eames pattern was used in promotional material for the hotel and noted in reviews of the hotel.
Eames Office has now sued on copyright and trademark grounds.
Eames Office, LLC and Mahram Fabric Corp. v. BD Hotels LLC, Swavelle/Mill Creek Fabrics, Inc. and Vanessa Guilford, 1:2008cv00988 (SD NY January 30, 2008).