Ft. Laurderdale, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/31/2012 -- Pride Family Brands, designer and manufacturer of casual furniture, today announced that it has filed in Miami Federal District Court, Miami, Fla., a patent infringement lawsuit against Woodard Furniture of Coppell, Texas, Carl’s Patio, Inc., Carl’s Patio West, Inc. and Scott Coogan, vice president – design, Woodard Furniture. The lawsuit claims patent infringement and violation of trade dress as well as disclosure of trade secrets.

"We filed this case for a very simple reason. Pride Family Brands’ property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited," said Steve Lowsky, president of Pride Family Bran ds. & a mp; a mp; amp; amp;a m p;a m p;a m p;a m p;a m p;n bsp; ; “Pride is one of the casual furniture industry’s leaders in driving and managing innovation and we place a high priority on protecting this innovation.”

Pride Family Brands takes its patent rights for all of their uniquely designed patio furniture seriously and will not tolerate the unauthorized copying of designs. “Our designs are one of our core assets and each represents a tremendous investment of time and money,” said Lowsky. “By the filing of this lawsuit today, we want to signal that we will do whatever the law allows to protect our patents, designs and the customer good will we have built and continue to enjoy today.”

Pride Family Brands, a thirty-five year old manufacturing company headquartered in Hollywood, FLa., currently holds over fifty design patents on outdoor furniture and furniture accessories.

For more information about Pride Family Brands and their distinguished lines of casual furniture visit http://www.pridefamilybrands.com or contact 954-735-9800.

About Pride Family Brands
For 35 years, Pride Family Brands has distinguished itself in the manufacturing of casual furniture. Innovation, state of the art manufacturing, and superior quality products are the trademark of Pride Family Brands and the reason Pride is recognized as a leader in the casual furniture industry.