A Springfield-based home décor company won its copyright claim last month against two prominent retailers.

Although there are still a handful of issues to resolve, the lawsuit dealing with an alleged knockoff of a decorative clip could become a legal landmark.

Design Ideas, a Springfield design firm owned by Sangamon County Board chairman Andy Van Meter, sued retailers Meijer and T.J. Maxx in federal court last year, alleging that the companies ripped off a copyrighted “Sparrow Clip” design. Sparrow Clips are colorful clothespins with the outline of a bird silhouette on top.

Thai designer Pititas Waiwiriya invented the clip and sold the rights to Van Meter’s company in 2008. Design Ideas then sold large quantities of Sparrow Clips to Meijer and T.J. Maxx for resale in their stores.

Design Ideas claims a Meijer purchasing agent asked for a lower price and said Meijer would buy Sparrow Clips elsewhere if the price wasn’t dropped. Design Ideas claims that it declined to drop the price and reminded Meijer that it holds exclusive copyright on Sparrow Clips. According to the complaint, Meijer sourced alleged knockoff “Canary Clips” from a third company known as Whitmor, which supplies products to several national and regional retailers like Meijer and T.J. Maxx. Whitmor is also a defendant in the case.

In 2014, a Design Ideas employee found the alleged knockoff clips at the T.J. Maxx on Veterans Parkway in Springfield and at the Meijer store on Conestoga Drive.

In filings with the federal court in Springfield, Design Ideas reproduced an email allegedly from Whitmor to a Chinese manufacturer asking for a quote to copy Sparrow Clips. The email allegedly asked the Chinese manufacturer to track down the original mold and find out whether it was patented. The defendants dispute the email’s authenticity.

Patrick Kuehl, a Kansas City-based attorney who represented Meijer, T.J. Maxx and Whitmor in the case, could not be reached for comment.

In a 56-page opinion released Aug. 25, U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough said that “the undisputed facts show that defendants infringed” on Design Ideas’ copyright.

Among the issues was whether Sparrow Clips are what’s known as a “useful article.” That term applies to items with “intrinsic utilitarian function,” such as a chair, according to the U.S. Copyright Office. Useful articles can’t be copyrighted, but it is possible to copyright items with “any pictorial, graphic or sculptural authorship.”

While Myerscough said the clothespin portion of the Sparrow Clip is a useful article, she found that the bird silhouette distinguishes it artistically from a regular clothespin, meaning it can be copyrighted.

Typically to prove copyright infringement, the copyright holder must show that the infringer had access to the design and that the infringing work is substantially similar to the copyrighted version.

“No reasonable person could find that the Sparrow Clips and the Canary Clips are not substantially similar,” Myerscough wrote.

Speaking by phone from a trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, Van Meter said he’s pleased with the outcome of the case.

“The decision is a ringing defense of everyone who earns their bread by their creativity,” he said.

While there are still a handful of issues to resolve, Van Meter said the case is important because many of the issues it raises are rarely litigated, meaning this case could set legal precedents for intellectual property law.

Van Meter said he’s disappointed that a lawsuit was necessary to protect his company’s design, and he’s especially surprised that the family-owned Meijer chain of stores fought the lawsuit so intently after being good customers of his company for years.

“It’s a very strange situation,” Van Meter said. “It’s so unlike the Meijer family to take a position like that.”

Contact Patrick Yeagle at pyeagle@illinoistimes.com.