Pants Jackson's Profile

I am shocked at nearly every post here, especially the pretentious, self-righteous people preaching the judgement of God about copying a chair with an expired patent. This is not, like it or not, a moral issue.

It's a legal issue, whether you like it or not. And, that issue has been decided in courts again and again. The reason the knock offs keep getting made is because it's legal. To the woman who asked the author in the group if he would want his words to be copied - there is a specific law preventing this so this is an invalid argument. And, there is a very big difference with copying a piece of furniture has patent still valid, versus one that has had its patents expire. One copy is not legal, the other copy clearly is. Courts have thrown out cases that companies like Herman Miller have brought against those who knock off, for this reason exactly. And, Knoll (I believe) was awarded "Trade Dress" rights for the Barcelona chair, but copies for this are still allowed to be manufactured by those who knock off because patents have expired. There is a case regarding Knoll vs Gordon International specifically regarding this; look it up.

I also wanted to point out the person who made the observation that the Bertoia chair purchased for $90 adjusted for inflation price vs what is actually charged was very insightful; thank you for that. The argument that somehow the designers lose money is such an uneducated argument. Not only are the current prices out of line with the original, the patents have expired a long time ago on things knocked off today and the designers are dead!

And to compare a Van Gough to an Eames Lounger is ridiculous. A Van Gough is a one of a kind item. By definition the furniture that the Eames' etc designed is not. And, the law is on the side of those who have knocked off the old designers.

To buy a knock off or the branded item is clearly a personal decision. Either one is legally valid, provided that the patents have expired on the branded item. One can empathize with those who are against it and see their point, too. The point for those in favor of knock offs is clearly obvious; they're allowed, they are affordable, F*** you.

If you're going to argue for buying branded only, please make logical arguments, if any can be made at all in favor of buying branded. The dogma of making comparisons with literature and art is so ridiculous. Actually, after literature's copyrights are expired, the literature goes into the public domain, where it can be copied by wonderful sites like http://www.gutenberg.org. See? Please make arguments that make sense; most of these are foolish and cast the pro-branded people in the worst of lights.