The Lascal M1 baby carrier is no longer being sold in the US after a lawsuit from rival Baby Bjorn claimed the carrier violated its patents.
Reader Anthea F. tipped us to this story---and it was confirmed by Lascal's U.S. distributor, Regal Lager, in an email to us today:
Yes, that information is unfortunately correct. Lascal is fighting Baby Björn in Europe and trying to invalidate Baby Björn’s patents, so we’ll see what eventually happen. Anyway, for now the M1 is not for sale in the US.
No word on when or if the Lascal carrier might return to the market.
The Lascal carrier has been pulled off Regal Lager's web site. We still see the carrier sold online on some sites, but we doubt that will last much longer.
Meanwhile, in other Regal Lager news, the distributor is planning to bring back the original Diaper Dekor refills. As you might remember from reading our book, the Dekor's "eco" refills have been a disaster, sparking complaints from users about their, well, stink. We'll let you know when the original refills are back in stock.
Thanks for the info. It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit pans out. Have to admit the Lascal is remarkable similar to the Baby Bjorn, so it's not surprising.
Posted by: Baby Carriers | June 27, 2009 at 04:14 PM
The "old" refills do not fit in the Diaper Dekor plus model. I don't even know if you can buy the original diaper dekor as the plus is the only one I have seen in store. So for people who have bought the new model the refills they have brought back are useless!
Posted by: Jennifer | November 10, 2009 at 05:02 PM