Prof. Christine Haight Farley Quoted in Dwell Magazine on Furniture Design Infringement
November 10, 2022
PIJIP Faculty Director Christine Haight Farley was recently quoted in a Dwell Magazine story on the wide and growing availability of knockoff designer furniture available online. Many of the iconic midcentury designs were originally protected by patents that expired long ago, rather than by trademarks, which can last indefinitely as long as they remain in use. Today, some firms are trying to trademark these designs.
Farley commented on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent denial of a trademark application by Herman Miller, the company that designed the famous Eames Chair: "They found that the design was functional and therefore could not be protected as a trademark. That’s a devastating defeat for Herman Miller because now there’s a public document saying they don’t have a trademark over that design. What was useful in the ’50s is not applicable anymore, legally."
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Christine Haight Farley is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law. She specializes in information law and teaches courses on contract law, intellectual property, advertising law, and art law. Her current research focuses on branding in the age of data-driven advertising and the over protection of design. She serves as Co-Faculty Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and previously served as Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs.