Home Depot, Walmart Sued Over ‘Instant’ Tent Canopies

A host of big retailers are facing a patent infringement lawsuit over collapsible tent canopies.

Home Depot U.S.A., Walmart Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Target Corp., and others infringed U.S. Patent No. 5,944,040 by having “offered and sold a wide range of collapsible ‘instant’ tent canopies under various brand names,” Caravan Canopy Int’l Inc. said in its May 31 lawsuit.

The lawsuit, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, attempts to put major retailers on the hook for “pop-up style cathedral tents” they “manufactured, caused to manufacture, imported, distributed, used, offered to sell and/or sold.” ...