DUBLIN, Ohio - A library-themed luxury hotel in Manhattan said yesterday that it has not infringed on the rights of the nonprofit library cooperative that owns the Dewey Decimal system.
The Library Hotel, which overlooks the New York Public Library, is divided according to the classification system, with each floor dedicated to one of Dewey's 10 categories.
The Online Computer Library Center, which is based in this Columbus suburb, sued the hotel last week for trademark infringement.
Craig Spitzer, general manager of the Library Hotel, said the hotel's theme is the original idea of its owner, Henry Kallan, and is based upon the hotel's proximity to the New York library.
"We are not a library lending books, but rather we have created a unique hotel experience for booklovers to enjoy," Spitzer said.
"We do not believe that our guests or other consumers are confused into thinking that the Library Hotel's hospitality services and the OCLC's information services come from the same source."
The OCLC acquired the rights to the system in 1988 when it bought Forest Press, which published Dewey Decimal updates. The center charges libraries at least $500 per year to use the system.
Joseph Dreitler, a lawyer representing the library center, has said people looking at the hotel's Web site might think the hotel was connected with the owner of the Dewey Decimal System.
The center's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, asks that the hotel's owner be ordered to pay either triple the profits since the hotel's opening or triple the damages the court determines the center is owed, whichever is greater.
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