DITTO

DITTO
Private
Industry Eyewear
Founded 2011
Founder Kate Endress, Sergey Surkov, Dmitry Kornilov
Headquarters San Mateo, CA
Products Eyeglasses, Sunglasses
Website www.ditto.com

DITTO is an Internet site that sells designer prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. The company uses virtual fitting technology to let customers try on frames from a computer. The technology measures a user’s face by homing in on pupils, ears, cheekbones, ears and other facial landmarks, and then comes back with images of dozens of different pairs of glasses that might be a good fit.[1]

History

DITTO was founded in 2011 in Mountain View, CA by Kate Endress, Sergey Surkov, and Dmitry Kornilov.[2] Currently the company is headquartered in San Mateo, CA with fulfillment and distribution operations in Evansville, IN.[3]

In April 2012 the company announced that it had picked up $3 million in funding from a group of investors led by August Capital.[4]

Products

DITTO's product line includes prescription and non-prescription designer eyeglasses and sunglasses. The company carries brands such as Ray-Ban, Persol, Chloé, TAG Heuer, and Vera Wang, as well as niche fashion and boutique brands like Jason Wu, Selima Optique, Alain Mikli, Anglo American, and John Varvatos.[5]

Patent Infringement Lawsuits

In early 2013 DITTO was sued by 1-800 Contacts (a division of WellPoint) and another company called Lennon Imaging Technology for Patent Infringement.[6]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation claimed that 1-800 Contacts is abusing patent law by acting like a patent troll in its lawsuit against DITTO. In a blog post, the EFF accused 1-800 Contacts of “leveraging the massive expense of patent litigation to squelch the competition”[7] and asked its followers to help DITTO by crowdsourcing prior art.

The lawsuit by Lennon Imaging Technologies was dismissed on October 7, 2013 without prejudice.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Hay, Timothy. "The site's software, which was built in-house, measures a user's face by homing in on pupils, ears, cheekbones, ears and other facial landmarks, and then comes back with images of dozens of different pairs of glasses that might be a good fit.", Dow Jones VentureWire, 26 April 2012. Retrieved on 20 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. "CEO Kate Endress, a Stanford Business School alum who co-founded the company with engineers Sergey Surkov and Dmitry Kornilov", Fast Company, 24 July 2012. Retrieved on 6 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Weber, Trisha. "Evansville’s central location allows prompt and cost-effective shipping for the distribution of Ditto products to anywhere throughout the U.S.", Evansville Business, 20 July 2012. Retrieved on 5 January 2013.
  4. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. "announced that it has picked up a $3 million in funding from a group of investors led by August Capital", Techcrunch, 26 April 2012. Retrieved on 20 December 2012.
  5. ↑ Walker, Allie. "Our designer roster includes such household names as Ray-Ban, Persol, Chloe, TAG Heuer, and Vera Wang, as well as niche fashion and boutique brands like Jason Wu, Selima Optique, Alain Mikli, Anglo American, and John Varvatos.", psfk, 20 July 2012. Retrieved on 21 December 2012.
  6. ↑ Ha, Anthony. "the company says it’s being sued by 1-800-CONTACTS and another company called Lennon Imaging Technology", Techcrunch, 21 May 2013. Retrieved on 24 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Nazer, Daniel; Samuels, Julie (2013-04-22). "UPDATED: Help Stop 1-800-CONTACTS from Abusing Patents to Squelch Competition". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  8. ↑ Ha, Anthony. "the company was actually facing two suits, including one from Lennon, which is a “non-practicing” company that owns intellectual property but doesn’t offer any products or services of its own. A judge has granted Ditto’s motion to have Lennon’s lawsuit dismissed", Techcrunch, 12 October 2013. Retrieved on 24 October 2013.

External links