Fatboy The Original: who doesn’t know the brand? The iconic beanbags (and nowadays also chairs, lamps, tables and parasols) can be found in many homes and gardens. But this item is about the Fatboy beanbags. Since its introduction, this concept has been closely watched by Fatboy’s competitors, and people are also quite inspired by it. That inspiration sometimes goes too far, and then Fatboy performs. For example, if a competitor also adopts the red rectangular labels that are characteristic of Fatboy, or uses exactly the same materials. That this can be expensive for the competition is evident from a recently published judgment by Fatboy against the Belgian competitor ZET bvba.

In the court’s verdict, it can be read that Fatboy and ZET already had a conflict about the design of ZET’s beanbags, and that the parties then agreed that ZET would only sell beanbags, which differed from those of Fatboy. For example, because they are made of other materials, and – important here – do not have a red or rechtangular label. In exchange for these promises from ZET, Fatboy would put the matter to rest.

As it turns out, in 2021 ZET started selling beanbags with a rectangular label. Fatboy then addressed her, and immediately claimed the fine that had been agreed in the earlier settlement agreement.

The judge went along with Fatboy’s demand, and sentenced ZET to stop selling the ZET beanbags and to pay a penalty payment up to a maximum of € 100,000.

The two parties will continue to linger on the settlement of the case, but for the time being ZET is not in the best position. Moral of this story: promise sometimes makes high debt…