Intentional trademark infringement is a felony and carries both civil and criminal penalties.

We’ve all seen those vendor carts parked along city streets with dozens of knockoff designer sunglasses and handbags. Some of us may even buy an accessory or two, priding ourselves on our savvy sense of financing. After all, it says “Chanel” right there on the purse. It must be real. And if it’s not, nobody will know the difference – at least not from a distance. What’s the big deal, anyway? 

The same mentality can be applied to furniture manufacturing – except we prefer to use the word “reproduction” instead of “knockoff.” It sounds less seedy that way. However, as those in the industry know, manufacturing and marketing a replica of, say, a Gerrit T. Rietveld Zig-Zag Chair as a “reproduction” is not only seedy, it’s illegal.

The name “Gerrit T. Rietveld” is a registered trademark belonging to Cassina, which was granted exclusive worldwide rights in 1972 by the Rietveld estate to produce and market the architect’s authenticated designs. Anyone else trying to manufacture or sell furniture in the United States using the words “Gerrit T. Rietveld” without first obtaining permission and a license from Cassina is engaging in the act of counterfeiting and, therefore, breaking the law. Intentional trademark infringement is a felony and carries both civil and criminal penalties.

Case in Point
It’s an infliction that has plagued the furniture industry for decades, but the issue came to light last year when the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., held an exhibit called “Modernism – Designing a New World 1914-1939.” As it turned out, most of the Rietveld chairs in the exhibit were knockoffs. What’s worse, the museum was also selling the reproductions in its gallery store in conjunction with the exhibit.

Cassina was not pleased. Selling the counterfeit chairs was in direct violation of the designer’s trademark. The company immediately issued a cease-and-desist letter to the museum, which prompted the institution to pull the fake chairs off its Web site and discontinue selling them in its stores.

When design company M2L Inc. learned of the museum’s behavior, it launched a Web site, www.genuinedesign.com, to explore the issue of knockoffs in the design industry. Its founder, Michael Manes, sent the museum a testy letter encouraging it to contact every customer that bought a Rietveld chair and provide an opportunity for a refund.

“These consumers had a 100 percent expectation of authenticity when making their purchase at a prominent design museum,” he wrote. “This is simply an outrageous breach of their trust. We believe it is important to raise awareness about this issue so that this never happens again. We expect knockoffs on Canal Street in Manhattan but not at the Corcoran.”

Please Be Genuine
So, what exactly is genuine design? As the Genuine Design Web site puts it, “Sometimes also called licensed or authorized design, it simply means that the creator approved the manufacture of the product.” It points to Andy Warhol-signed lithographs as an example. Although these items are continuously reproduced, they are considered genuine because the Warhol estate approved its release and sale to the public. And, as Mark Twain once said, “You don’t steal a man’s intellectual property just because he’s dead.”

“It might be difficult to see the difference between the genuine Warhol and one that was pirated or printed without the permission of his estate, but there is one big difference: the genuine article has value and the knockoff doesn’t,” the Web site asserts. “Modern furniture is no different. Just like artists, writers and other creative people, designers rely on royalties to earn a living. The next generation of designers will be forced into other professions if their earning ability is destroyed by rampant counterfeiting.”

Knock It Off!
According to Manes, when a counterfeit product winds up in the hands of consumers, it is because they either think they’re “getting off cheap, only to find out later they fooled themselves,” or they were deceived into thinking they were purchasing a genuine product. However, he says, “there is only one type of seller of counterfeit, and their only interest is profit. Design, product development and creativity do not exist in their vocabulary. Educate the buyer, and the seller will find out it is no longer profitable to make money on others’ creativity.”

Despite what happened at the Corcoran, he maintains an optimistic outlook for the industry as a whole. “The fact is, the market ultimately decides which direction to go and I have no doubt, culturally, America is going the genuine way,” he contends. “Modern design deserves the same protection for its intellectual property as art. How can a major museum … not only present fake Rietveld, but actually sell the fake Rietveld out of their museum store? I have no doubt, had the museum featured 17 fake Warhol lithographs, the public would have been aghast.”