How often don't we hear the defence "I didn't know that this design is protected". Or: "I did not know that registered trademark". Not one of the better defences - one just must know that designs may be protected. And if one trades in commerce, he better first checks the trademark registers. Anyone who does not, should not complain about having to pay damages if an "unexpected" infringement is at stake.
This goes all the more if you are a professional furniture trader, who bought a number of design chairs at a Shanghai fair, in a country where IP rights are not always taken too seriously. If you start selling those chairs, and Cassina (the right holder for designs by a.o. Le Corbusier) will jump on your back, then this is just the expected result. Such a furniture trader must check on possible IP rights in advance. This was decided by the District Court of The Hague on 24 February 2010 about a number of Le Corbusier look alikes. Tough, but all justified.
Maarten Haak
Read here the (Dutch) judgment on Boek9.
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How often don't we hear the defence "I didn't know that this design is protected". Or: "I did not know that registered trademark". Not one of the better defences - one just must know that designs may be protected. And if one trades in commerce, he better first checks the trademark registers. Anyone who does not, should not complain about having to pay damages if an "unexpected" infringement is at stake.
This goes all the more if you are a professional furniture trader, who bought a number of design chairs at a Shanghai fair, in a country where IP rights are not always taken too seriously. If you start selling those chairs, and Cassina (the right holder for designs by a.o. Le Corbusier) will jump on your back, then this is just the expected result. Such a furniture trader must check on possible IP rights in advance. This was decided by the District Court of The Hague on 24 February 2010 about a number of Le Corbusier look alikes. Tough, but all justified.
Maarten Haak
Read here the (Dutch) judgment on Boek9.