A©ID Member Buoyant Upholstery Limited is a leading supplier of quality upholstered furniture and spends approximately £1m per annum in its design and development function. Buoyant has successfully resolved a dispute with Tutti Frutti Direct Limited concerning the unregistered design right in Buoyant’s Hilston rocking chair design. Buoyant was represented by A©ID’s Legal Affiliate Taylors Solicitors.
Buoyant learned that Tutti Frutti was marketing its “Noah” chair, which Buoyant considered a slightly altered copy of the well-established Hilston design. Buoyant sought advice from Tony Catterall of Taylors, who confirmed that in his view, the shape of Tutti Frutti’s “Noah” product was a copy of Buoyant’s original design for its Hilston chair and that the “Noah” product was therefore an infringement.
Taylors instigated pre action correspondence for Buoyant and quickly moved to an amicable settlement whereby Tutti Frutti agreed substantially to change its design.
A©ID Legal Affiliate Tony Catterall, a director of Taylors Solicitors, said: “Buoyant is an innovative business which is at the forefront of UK furniture design. It is essential that Buoyant protects the integrity of its designs and we were pleased to be able to reach an early and amicable resolution without Buoyant having to incur the costs of commencing litigation.”
A©ID comment: “One of the many myths about IP is that people think that if they make a number of changes or a % of changes to an original design it becomes a new design, and this is simply not the case as we have seen when buoyant challenged Tutti Frutti over the “Noah” version of its Hilston rocking chair. Fortunately, with Taylor’s help, this dispute was sorted out quickly.”
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