Hard to Knock Off Furniture Knockoffs

Thursday, 04 November 2010 | by Pat's Picks

I see these ads for knockoff furniture all the time. They always say it’s “in the style of” followed by the name of a famous designer. But it looks identical. The Wall Street Journal says it’s very difficult to enforce copyright infringement on furniture because it’s considered a utilitarian object. That’s bad news for designers who have to contend with the legions of knockoffs being offered at half the price of their own creations.