Posh becomes Herman Miller…

After what seems a long time, POSH Office Systems formally became an integrated part of the Herman Miller family.  Back in the first quarter of 2011 Posh and Herman Miller announced that after 2 years of an alliance partnership, the companies agreed to bring POSH into the corporate family.

 This was a significant move by Herman Miller to gain access to the Chinese market, an opportunity that could provide strong growth in a constantly changing global market.  POSH who are based out of Hong Kong, are a respected manufacturer and with a major international player behind them could become a lead player as demand for US and European products increases.

POSH

Herman Miller in bid to protect its design rights down under

 

Herman Miller is taking an Matt Blatt, an Australian supplier of replica furniture to the Australian Federal Court in order to stop it from using the famous Eames name.

 Matt Blatt sells many replica products at a fraction of the price of the real thing.  Herman Miller claim that the company has infringed trademark, contravened the Trades Practices Act and Australian Consumer Law and that it is ultimately passing off its products as genuine Herman Miller.

 Adam Drexler, the owner of Matt Blatt, is standing by his right to sell replica designer furniture and intends to challenge Herman Miller. ”I believe that good design should not be something one should aspire to but be readily available to everyone – not just those in the top levels of income,” says Adam Drexler.

 Matt Blatt, like many of the replica designer furniture companies which have sprung up in recent years always refer to their products as replicas e.g. replica Eames DSE Side Chair.  The courts have yet to decide if it is an infringement of intellectual property to refer to a trade mark in this way.  If the courts find in favour of Herman Miller, it could pave the way to many other cases being brought to law courts across the world.

 The first hearing is scheduled for today.

Eames lounge chair and ottoman (1956)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The first Eames lounge chair and ottoman was made as a gift for Billy Wilder, the director of “Some Like It Hot,” “Irma La Douce,” and “Sunset Blvd.”

The heritage of the chair goes back to the moulded plywood chairs pioneered by the Eames’s in the 1940s.  Charles Eames said his goal for the chair was the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt and a special refuge from the strains of modern living.

The first lounge chair and ottoman produced by Herman Miller, in 1956, made its public debut on Arlene Francis‘s Home show, a predecessor of the Today show. Commenting on the unique design, Charles Eames told Francis, “We’ve never designed for a fashion, and the Herman Miller furniture company has never, ever requested that we do pieces for a market.”

The lounge chair and ottoman have been in production ever since and the rights are still owned in the US by Herman Miller and today in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by Vitra.

Images from Herman Miller Inc and Vitra

Video from www.findmetheoriginal.com