Accessory company Dbrand has filed a major lawsuit against competitor Casetify, accusing them of stealing protected designs for their transparent device skins.

Dbrand collaborated with popular YouTuber JerryRigEverything, known for stress testing phones, to create the “Teardown” line of skins last year. These vinyl wraps display intricately detailed renders of device internals, providing a literally inside look at what powers our gadgets.

But Casetify then introduced suspiciously similar “Inside Out” skins soon after, argues Dbrand. In a video statement alongside JerryRigEverything, Dbrand points out the suspect timing along with near identical internal component layouts compared to their Teardown skins.

They even claim Casetify copied specific Easter egg etchings hidden within the original Teardown designs, including Jerry’s signature catchphrase etched onto an internal device label.

In the lawsuit filed this week, Dbrand alleges copyright infringement by Casetify across 45 different Inside Out products. And shortly after the public accusations, Casetify pulled all Inside Out listings from their site.

While not confirming any wrongdoing, Casetify’s statement acknowledged investigating both the copyright claims and an alleged cyberattack on their systems around the same time. They maintain no customer data was compromised.

But Dbrand remains staunch in their allegations, arguing Casetify leaned heavily on their innovative skin concepts and demanding significant damages. It seems the transparency displayed in these device skin designs did not extend to how they were created.

Source: The Verge / Engadget