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.
Video DITTO
History
DITTO was founded in 2011 in Mountain View, CA by Kate Endress, Sergey Surkov, and Dmitry Kornilov. Currently the company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with fulfillment and distribution operations in Evansville, IN.
In April 2012 the company announced that it had picked up $3 million in funding from a group of investors led by August Capital.
Maps DITTO
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.
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.
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" 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.
References
External links
- A Former WNBA Player Refocuses Eyewear E-tailing at Bloomberg Businessweek
- DITTO at Crunchbase
- The Daily Start-Up: Ditto Focuses On $3M For Eyeglass Tech at WSJ
- Ditto lets you try on glasses via webcam at SFGate
- Try on Your Next Pair of Glasses Online, Get Them in 4 Days at Mashable
- Help Stop 1-800-CONTACTS from Abusing Patents to Squelch Competition at Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Patent Trolls Are Killing Startups -- Except When They're Saving Them at Wired (magazine)
- Hoosier's startup Ditto fights for its life against surprising foe: WellPoint at Indy Star
- DITTO wins defeats patent claim after teaming up with a troll at Techcrunch
- Patent Trolls Threaten to Drain Silicon Valley Startups at NBC News
Source of article : Wikipedia
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