Furniture by Modern Wood Works... surprisingly, not Eames

Point of View:
A Manufacturer Speaks

by William F. Berg
Modern Wood Works
Kenner, LA

Licensed Manufacturer, Knockoff, Reissue, Reproduction or Authorized Version - these are just a few of the terms used to describe furniture with a design pedigree. What do these terms mean and how are they used to sell modern furniture?

In the United States, companies that make any type of product, including furniture, have a legal means to protect their investment associated with the initial design and manufacturing of their products. For over 200 years the United States Patent and Trademark Office has offered these legal protections as utility patents, design patents and trademarks.

Inventions can be protected with a utility patent for 20 years. There are various tests that must be passed before a utility patent is issued. In simplified terms the product (or method or process, etc.) must be new, not obvious and working. As an example, Charles Eames received a patent in 1942 for a “Method of Making Laminated Articles.” This patent describes in detail both a method (including an apparatus design) to manufacture laminated products and sample products (compound curved plywood chairs, splints and stretchers) made using this method.

A design patent protects a designer or manufacturer from being copied and is good for 14 years. Charles Eames received a design patent in 1948 for a plywood chair (the LCW, Lounge Chair Wood). This patent is short, only two pages long, and simply shows four views of an LCW. If a company wants to copy a design that is protected by a patent it must make enough changes as to not infringe on the original patent. A court decision may be required to determine if the quantity and nature of the changes actually distinguish the new design from a protected design. Design and utility patents are similar in that they cannot be renewed.

A trademark is a word, name or symbol that identifies a product (Coke, Ford, Eames, etc.). Unlike patents, a company can renew a trademark. Knoll, Inc. has the exclusive rights to use the word Knoll when applied to furniture. They also have a trademark on the word Barcelona when applied to furniture. Legally, no other company can use the words Knoll or Barcelona in the marketing of furniture. But, subject to legal interpretation, someone named Susan Knoll may have a legal right to open a furniture store bearing her name that sells all kinds of furniture. She may, however, have a problem selling modern furniture that looks like furniture sold by Knoll, Inc. These are questions that a court would have to answer, and first Knoll, Inc. must initiate the challenge.

Once a design or invention is in the public domain, meaning the patent has expired, it can be manufactured by anyone, however, it cannot be called by the trademarked name. Some companies want you to believe that they own the exclusive manufacturing rights to the original products even though the patents protecting these rights have been expired for many years. Terms such as “only licensed version”, “authorized manufacturer” or “reissue” are better marketing campaigns than, “hey, we own the trademark to the word that we use to describe this furniture.” Another sales technique frequently used by the original companies is a claim for future investment value of the furniture. Ask the salesperson to put this claim in writing. The future value of new versions of Mid-Century Modern designs is purely speculative. This is furniture, not the stock market. When a company stops making a particular piece of furniture for a long period of time and then starts to manufacture it again, their claim to any type of exclusivity is even more dubious. Design and utility patents on the original Mid-Century Modern designs, if they were even patented originally and not just trademarked, have all expired. The original company that makes a design is no more likely to manufacturer an exact copy than any other company.

To accuse a manufacturer that copies a patented design after the patent has expired and does not make payments to the designer as immoral and unethical is at best a reach. This mindset sets a difficult precedent for a person in modern life. Who does not buy generic drugs? When you reproduce a document are you ethically opposed to using anything but a Xerox machine? Is it immoral to use a telephone from a manufacturer that does not have a linage to Alexander Graham Bell? These are, of course, ridiculous questions. Drug companies spend huge sums of money to research and develop every product they make. After the patent has expired, the competition is fierce to market generic copies. All designers and inventors know the established rules concerning patents. Protection is available but for a limited time.

Knockoff, reissue, and reproduction – these are no more than a salesperson's words used to somehow devalue a legitimate competitor or to confuse the public. If you want to buy any piece of furniture and the company is honest, makes a good product true to the original design, at a fair price and it meets your needs, buy it. Remember that the original goal of the modern design movement was to make well-designed products at affordable prices for the masses.

(c) 2000, William F. Berg