Heh heh, for all we know maybe the guys over at "Personal Creations" would like to have a word in that matter:

http://www.personalcreations.com/shop/thumbnail.asp?ensemb...

Yeah it's not the same but it's "substantially similar" to the design. I wouldn't be surprised to find they all ripped it off from somewhere. The lawsuit is patently ridiculous as "themes" are not copyrightable. Unless it's an exact replica there is no law against knock-offs when there is no trademark dilution at stake.

Any lawyers care to follow up in case i'm wrong? ;p

Well it's still ugly no matter who designed it. How big does a stocking have to be? Apparently so big you can stuff a child's bicycle in it.

Am I the only one completely jealous of that giant stocking full of gifts? My stocking when I was a kid was like 1/10 that size.

Those are about the size of the ones we've always had. My mom knit them, and usually opening the stockings is more fun than the rest of the gifts, even though it was mostly stuff we'd need, like chapstick, tissues, and combs. Plus the typical assortment of chocolates and nuts. Each year, there would be a grapefruit jammed into the toe end.
(Except for mine, I got an orange. Grapefruit sucks. It sucks even more when you finally succumb and eat one, as I did eight months ago when I was sick, and then spend an entire day vomiting up grapefruit goo.)

I don't get it...does Williams Sonoma have a patent on Christmas Stockings? Does Lucky have a patent on jeans? Unless the products are being sold as "Lucky Brand" or as "Pottery Barn," it isn't a trademark issue...and copyright doesn't have anything to do with it either...

Maybe it's just that these luxury goods companies don't want people having similar designs of the same products for half or less of the price. I mean hey, if Lucky's Jeans or Pottery Barn Christmas stockings are worth the price, then people aren't going to buy them from Target...

Actually, among the indie crafter and fine arts scenes, Target is notorious for ripping off hot designers and artists, though the indie types don't usually have the money to do anything about it. Urban Outfitters, too, is quick to jump on any "hip" trend they find in the DIY marketplace.

Neither company every approaches the designer of the item; they simply make a couple of (minor) modifications and pay third world workers to cheaply produce the knock-offs.

That said, I shop at Target. I'm always part of the problem it seems.

I don't know about the stockings, but the halloween trees in the article or a crock...they were selling those at craft stores for years before PB had one...

This is such a non-story. You cannot copyright fashion. When Julia Roberts won her Oscar within a week all the department stores had her Valentino dress for $100.

Fashion is a pretty different game as far as IP law is concerened. In this case, there is an artistic expression that is separable from the actual stocking (for instance, a Van Gogh on a t-shirt is still a Van Gogh) and therefore, protectible by copyright.