American design company is taking an Australian supplier of replica furniture to Court

IN WHAT may become a test case for intellectual property rights, the American design company Herman Miller is taking an Australian supplier of replica furniture to the Federal Court in a bid to stop it from using the famous Eames name.

The Australian furniture supplier Matt Blatt, with shops in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, sells replica designer furniture , generally at less than half the price of the real thing by legendary American designers, the late husband-and-wife Charles and Ray Eames.

But the American manufacturer Herman Miller, the owner of the Eames trademark, has had enough and is hauling Matt Blatt to the Federal Court of Australia, claiming that the Australian company has infringed trademark, contravened the Trades Practices Act and Australian Consumer Law, and is 'passing off' furniture products as authentic items by Herman Miller.
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