Lawsuits within the tech industry are commonplace, yet the latest legal altercation involves Casetify, the apparent billion-dollar smartphone case manufacturing company. The accusers are none other than tech-good guy, Zack Nelson, renowned as JerryRigEverything on YouTube, and Dbrand, a prominent smartphone case and skin manufacturer.
Both parties allege that Casetify shamelessly copied a series of smartphone cases originally designed by JerryRigEverything and Dbrand. What makes this case particularly heinous is the accused party’s failure to conceal the intentional markers or “easter eggs” left by the original designers.
Nelson took to YouTube to explain everything that’s going on, providing substantial evidence to support claims of theft and plagiarism by Casetify. He emphasized that while he is not the sole practitioner of device teardown skins or cases, the accused company blatantly replicated the exact designs without any attempt at originality. It’s akin to copying homework and doing so in a conspicuous manner.
As highlighted earlier, the cases and skins crafted by Nelson and Dbrand incorporate numerous easter eggs, including frequently used quotes from Nelson’s YouTube channel, Dbrand’s founding date, their logo, and the iconic Dbrand pyramid. Casetify seems to have unknowingly duplicated each element, albeit attempting to obscure some of the more blatant references with limited success.
Essentially it seems like what Casetify has done was dissect the design and move a few parts around.
Dbrand took to Twitter to expound on the situation.
Casetify stole our products. Now we’re suing them.
Here’s how we found out… (1/6)
— dbrand (@dbrand) November 23, 2023
Both Zack Nelson and Dbrand have jointly filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Casetify, citing copyright infringement.
Within 48 hours, the controversial cases have been expunged from the Casetify website, and official statements from the accused company are still pending. Notably, the Casetify website experienced an outage for a significant duration within the same time period.
While legal battles of this nature are not uncommon, this particular case seems to have a clear-cut resolution, though the pace of justice, as acknowledged by Nelson, remains a factor to watch.
In the midst of mounting evidence, just a few days ago Casetify continued to dismiss the allegations, maintaining it’s an ongoing investigation. Taking to Twitter, the company addresses the claims, asserting itself as the “bastion of originality.”
The removal of the disputed designs has been acknowledged. The unfolding drama hints at a legal battle the internet can’t wait to meme.
— CASETiFY (@Casetify) November 24, 2023
Good luck suing a company all the way in Hong Kong.
Casetify is headquartered in Los Angeles, 120 E 8th St, United States, and has 3 office locations.
If they want to sell cases in North America ever again, they’ll pay up.