While Ikea has had quite the busy year unveiling a slew of new products (Indoor gardening kit! Brazil-inspired decor! A bike?!), it has apparently also been working behind the scenes to settle a curious design world lawsuit. In October 2014, American furniture maker Emeco filed a civil law suit against Ikea, accusing the Swedish brand of copy one of its designs. The contentious piece in question? The 20-60 chair British architect Norman Foster designed for Emeco, a stackable, aluminium design that retails for $690 each. The alleged copycat is the Ikea's steel and plastic Melltorp dining chair by Ola Wihlborg, which sells for $25.
Well, almost two years later, the two companies have agreed to an out-of-court settlement, Dezeen reports. The agreement verifies that Emeco owns the intellectual property rights to Foster's 20-60 chair, but detailed terms—including whether Ikea will stop selling its Melltorp chair—remain confidential. If the Swedish furniture giant somehow does bow down and discontinue the product (it's currently still available on the online store), it wouldn't be Emeco's first power move. In 2013, Emeco got Restoration Hardware to stop selling a piece that was accused of being a copy of its iconic Navy chair.