The IP Doctor feature in the ACID e-newsletter is fun. In the
current issue, "IP Doctor focuses on furniture", the following questions are asked, then answered:
Q I am an independent furniture designer but I do incorporate previous design features into my own original work, such as Chippendale style legs etc. Does this affect the rights in my design?
Q My company produces reproduction furniture based on items from the 18th and 19th centuries. Are we able to register any of the designs we produce?
Q I have often seen furniture marketed as ‘in the style of’ for example, Charles Eames. Is this permissible under UK Design Law?
Right: a "Charles Eames Inspired Office Chair Soft Pad High Back"
Q My company has been producing a very successful range of bedroom furniture for some years. Another company has recently approached me and said that now I have to allow them to produce it also. Is this right?
Q I have produced a chair design which I think is suitable for mass production. What sort of documentation should I have in place before I contact manufacturers in the Far East for production quotes?
I've eliminated the answers. The challenge is to supply your own, then check them off against the answers provided. You can also try (i) supplying them to a colleague, trainee, client or other good soul and seeing how they score and (ii) going off for a few drinks with colleagues, then spring the questions on them all and measure the degree of variation between their answers ...
