Are You Selling a Design Knockoff? Get Ready to Be Sued!

Furniture World Magazine

Jack Hicks, a noted intellectual property attorney with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC., will be speaking at the upcoming Las Vegas Furniture Market. Hicks’ presentation will be on, “Are You Selling a Design Knockoff? Get Ready to Be Sued!” The intellectual property laws of the United States protect the owners of original furniture designs against unauthorized manufacture, sale, importation and even use. This is true even if the “knockoff” piece of furniture is made overseas. And recent industry changes mean that retailers, manufacturers and distributors who violate these trademark, patent and/or copyright laws are increasingly like to be sued. “Years ago, a retailer who sold a knockoff piece of furniture probably wouldn’t get sued by the manufacturer of the original piece because the manufacturer didn’t want to alienate the retailer as a potential customer,” Hicks explained. “However, changes in furniture distribution and manufacturer-retailer relationships have lessened that reluctance and we are seeing a much greater willingness of furniture manufacturers to take retailers to court.” In his Las Vegas Furniture Market presentation, Hicks will explain how manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers can protect themselves from such litigation. The presentation is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 10 and will be held in the LVDC Seminar Room of Building C-316. Jack Hicks is a licensed patent attorney who counsels counseling clients in all areas of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law. The home furnishings industry is one of the industries in which he has a substantial practice. He is the co-author of Womble Carlyle’s Furniture Law blog, and also serves on the Suppliers Board of the American Home Furnishings Alliance. A significant portion of his practice includes the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent and trademark applications, as well as associated litigation. Hicks also teaches an upper-level law school course on intellectual property law. Womble Carlyle - Innovators at Law: A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among American Lawyer magazine's list of the 100 leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a business organization in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions. The firm also is the first law firm to be awarded the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award, which is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for their support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in six states and the District of Columbia with more than 500 attorneys in eleven offices located in Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Baltimore, MD; and Wilmington, DE. Womble Carlyle is located in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally.