Casetify sued by Dbrand and JerryRigEverything for stealing its Teardown skin designs
In case you spent your Thanksgiving away from social media and all things internet, you may have missed the bombshell story that broke out in the tech accessories space. Casetify, the popular phone case company, is being sued by Dbrand and popular YouTuber JerryRigEverything for stealing their "Teardown" skin designs. Let's bring you up to speed.
In a YouTube video published by JerryRigEverything yesterday, he and Dbrand, the popular company that is known for its unique and innovative phone skin designs, publicly accused Casetify of copying their Teardown designs for several smartphones without permission while turning a profit. Not only did the video announce and present proof of their claims, but also that their claims are swiftly being taken to court in the form of a lawsuit.
The Teardown design that is being referred to was developed in collaboration between JerryRigEverything and Dbrand, as made popular by the YouTuber's channel niche of taking apart smartphones and performing durability tests. This particular design features a transparent layer that reveals the internal components of the phone.
As stated in the video, JerryRig explains that both he and Dbrand spent years developing the design, and they are upset that Casetify has so blatantly copied it without their permission while passing them off as their own original designs — this despite the fact that Casetify is a much larger and profitable company than Dbrand. As proof of their claims, the video calls attention to several Easter eggs that were quietly worked into the original Dbrand design that ended up in Casetify's either untouched or slightly altered, but clearly still there.
In response to these serious allegations of I.P. infringement and theft, Casetify has taken to social media to plead its case, maintaining that the company is and always has been "a bastion of originality." Additionally, in the same post Casetify stated that they are investigating the copyright allegation and thus have immediately removed all the designs in question from all platforms where it was being sold.
Casetify's post on X responding to the accusations
It bears pointing out that even on the same post, Casetify's claims were challenged, with X's Community Notes adding that the designs were not completely removed from all retailers, echoing Dbrand's reply stating that they were still being sold at Best Buy. Similarly challenged was Casetify's claim that its site went through a DDOS (denial-of-service) attack that took the site down momentarily right after the accusations went public.
Dbrand's response to Casetify's statement on X
At the time of writing this post, the "Inside Out" cases are no longer on Casetify's website and I can no longer find them at BestBuy.com, though that doesn't mean they couldn't still be available via the brick and mortar stores. Meanwhile, Dbrand is seeking damages from Casetify in this ongoing lawsuit, and it is unclear how it will be resolved.
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