Moormann defeats Ikea in the battle against plagiarism

Comparable to David’s victory against Goliath, the battle won by the German company Niels Holger Moormann against the giant Ikea, drew to an end 26 April last year after two and a half years of struggle in the law courts. We’re not exaggerating. Not forgetting what happened to the well known design brand Authentics last October: Hans Maier-Aichen had to present a request for bankruptcy for Artipresent – the company which marketed Authentics products – due to the vast legal expenses sustained in America to defend the copyright of a number of its products. The brand survived (distributed by Flot Otto), whilst the company structure was drastically scaled down. The problem of protecting a brand has tormented producers of designer furniture for a long time, too long, oppressed by now by the same problems as the fashion world. Also due to bad protection in terms of not very cautious legislation that has two fundamental defects: it accepts minimal and marginal modifications to the original product as sufficient reason to establish the originality of the new product; it limits the recognition of the copy only in the country in which the law courts have declared it, forcing companies copied to present their case in every country where the product is being distributed.

Moormann defeats Ikea in the battle against plagiarism

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