IPR quandry
Out of context: Reply #60
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- Miesfan0
Devotees of midcentury modernist furniture who want to furnish their homes with affordable versions of the period's signature pieces, like Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chair, may soon be out of luck.In a decision that could reduce the availability of replicas of classic modern furniture, the United States Patent and Trademark Office last week granted trademark protection to the furniture company Knoll for four famous designs in Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona collection — the chair and a stool, couch and table — as well as his flat-bar Brno chair.
Knoll, a Greenville, Pa., company, has been the licensed manufacturer of the Barcelona chair since 1948. A Knoll spokesman, David Bright, said the decision allowed the company to take action against retailers who sell knockoffs and "gives a green light to U.S. customs to stop unauthorized products from reaching this country."
Knoll, which makes 18 Mies reproductions, has held a trademark on the Barcelona name since 1968. (Knoll reproductions have Mies's signature stamped into the frame.) The new registration extends trademark protection to the actual design of the five products. Mr. Bright said the company filed for protection to stem inexpensive knockoffs. Trademark protection, Mr. Bright added, will help maintain the authenticity of the original 1929 design. He declined to provide sales figures for the Barcelona series but said it is a "perennial favorite." The decision could curb sales of copycat versions by retailers like Design Within Reach, whose customers appreciate the period's design masters but do not want to pay for authentic reproductions.
At the same time, the attempt to restrict replicas may encourage manufacturers to be inventive. "They will make enough changes to ensure the products are legal," said Lee Mindel, an architect at Shelton, Mindel & Associates in New York. "They will morph into other things, like watches on Canal Street."
High-end furniture makers often deploy trademark protection to safeguard their classic designs. Last year Herman Miller, the Zeeland, Mich., manufacturer, received a trademark registration similar to Knoll's for the amoeba-shaped Noguchi coffee table and the Eames lounge chair and ottoman.
Barcelona knockoffs are sold under different names with slightly altered styling. C.I.T.E., for example, a shop in SoHo, offers a $1,000 "designer-inspired" chair based on the original; Design Within Reach sells its Barcelona-style chair ("made to precise specifications of the original design," according to the store's Web site) for $1,995. Knoll's licensed reproduction costs $4,809.
Modernist knockoffs are typically made in countries like Vietnam, China and Italy. Mike Walsh, a trademark lawyer at Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston, said Knoll's new trademark registration would allow customs officials to "seize the goods at the point of entry." The registration also lets rivals know that Knoll has legal authority to seek injunctions against sellers. "They are rattling the cage," Mr. Walsh said.
The new trademark protection clearly discourages the sale of unlicensed pieces called Barcelonas. But can it stop a retailer from selling an unauthorized replica with a different name? Design Within Reach, for example, calls its replica the Pavilion chair, a sly reference to the 1929 Barcelona Exposition, where Mies introduced his collection at the German Pavilion.
To win a judgment, Knoll's lawyers would have to convince a jury that there is a "likelihood of confusion" in the mind of the consumer, Mr. Walsh said. And to the undiscerning eye, often the cheap reproductions are quite similar to the originals, varying only in small changes of width or height, or the thickness of the frame. (For its Barcelona chair Knoll uses hand-welted leather panels, while C.I.T.E.'s replicas are machine-stitched.)
David Harrison, a trademark lawyer at Rosen & Livingston in New York who represents C.I.T.E., argues that after 75 years the design for the Barcelona chair is in the public domain. Knoll can do little more than "make a lot of noise," he said.
C.I.T.E.'s founder and director, P. J. Casey, said she would keep selling her version. "It's part of our brand and our identity," she said.
Some design professionals buy authentic reproductions only. Such pieces "honor and respect what the designer has done," Mr. Mindel said.
But James Biber, an architect at the firm Pentagram, sympathizes with consumers. Knockoffs, if done faithfully, ensure that objects are available to a wider range of people and "spread awareness of good design," he said. "Consumers usually can't tell the difference unless they turn it over and look at the label."