While Dbrand definitely seems keen to pull some stunts, the difference between this versus that is that at least in that case, Dbrand still had to put in the work to replicate the PlayStation 5 faceplates. It's not as though Dbrand owns the inside of a phone: had Casetify done the work and simply created a similar product to Dbrand, this wouldn't be a lawsuit. It's because they stole the end product from Dbrand, which would be more like if Dbrand stole Sony's design files to make the faceplates. Whether what they were trying to pull with the PS5 was actually legal or not is another question, but also, in my opinion it certainly wasn't a dirty theft either way.
It would be unsurprising if that was all intended from the start as a viral marketing campaign. I don't remember hearing that they ever got in any trouble with Sony, and they're pretty infamous for "taunting" others to sue them (and similar stunt language like "our lawyers told us we couldn't make this") in all their marketing.
they significantly changed the "darkplates". The 2.0 lawyer-approved version doesn't even have the distinctive "fins" (or collar or whatever you want to call it) .