Martha Stewart anti-bedbug patent case dismissed

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. reached a settlement with a Northbrook company over claims that its anti-bedbug mattress covers infringed a patent, according to court filings.

The media and merchandise group associated with Martha Stewart was sued Sept. 9 by an Illinois company that claimed it infringing a patent for “Protect-A-Bed” mattress covers designed to keep bedbugs from biting sleepers.

JAB Distributors LLC, based in Northbrook, had claims the Martha Stewart Collection Allergy Wise Mattress Protector is using its invention without permission. Closely held JAB was seeking a court order to prevent further use, plus unspecified cash compensation, according court papers.

Bedbugs, mostly eliminated in the U.S. 60 years ago with the now-banned pesticide DDT, are making a comeback, with companies including Time Warner Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reporting sightings of the insects at some offices or stores. Exterminators have logged “a dramatic increase in bedbug calls in recent years” and the U.S. is on the threshold of a pandemic, according to a survey by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky.

JAB's patent 7,552,389, issued in June 2009, covered a “bug-impervious fabric” with a zipper opening for removal of the mattress and a foam pad at the end of the zipper so the bedbugs can't escape from that opening. JAB calls its invention the “BugLock.”

The case was dismissed Dec. 21 by a federal judge in Chicago, according to a court filing. No terms of the settlement were disclosed. Each side is paying its own litigation costs and attorney fees, according to court papers.