The problem of protecting a brand has been a major issue for manufacturers of furniture for many years and is become even more pressing with the competition posed by countries such as China and India. A matter made worse by the inadequate protection offered by poor legislation that has two basic defects – it accepts minimal and marginal changes to the original product as sufficient reason to establish the originality of the new product; it limits recognition of the copy only to the country in which the courts have given their judgement, forcing plagiarised companies to present their case in every country that the product in question is marketed.

A sign of a step forward towards better protection of products and patents is the victory of Swiss company Vitra in Italy who last November took the company High Tech to court in Milan. The object of contention was a chair, renamed “Loft”, from the Milan based shop that, apart from its name, was equal in every respect to the famous “Panton Chair” designed in 1967 by Danish designer Verner Panton (1926-1998) and manufactured by Vitra since 2000. A single, flexuous and innovative form, made in propylene in a single mould, the “Panton Chair” marked the small-large revolution in the world of design, in terms of aesthetics and characteristics. All the ingredients that make it a 20th century icon.

Judges in Milan from the section specialised in industrial copyright lead by Gabriella Migliaccio ruled in favour of Vitra (confirmed in appeal), recognising for the first time that a design product can be subject to copyright. The Panton Chair is protected by copyright because “it is the manifestation of an expressive research and intuition” according to Milanese magistrate Claudio Marangoni. It is “an important step in protecting design copyright” underlined lawyer Gabrile Cuonzo (of Trevisan & Cuonzo). “In a time of economic difficulty for our country, to be able to count on this kind of protection is a boost for a sector of the market that is extremely important for Italy”. E.S.