Conclude agreements on rights to designs

Two judgments on the right to furniture designs emphasise the importance of having entered into clear agreements before establishing a collaboration between a designer and a manufacturer on the exploitation of designs.

In two different cases of 15 April 2016 (in case V-44-14) and of 8 May 2015 (in case V-46-14), the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court passed two judgments that are both about whether a designer has a right to terminate an agreement with a furniture manufacturer on the manufacture and sales of a number of furniture designs or whether a final and non-terminable assignment of the right to manufacture and sell the relevant designs had been concluded.

In the most recent judgment of 15 April 2016, the Court found that a final and non-terminable assignment of the right to manufacture and sell the furniture designs in question had been made to the furniture manufacturer. The designer was therefore not entitled to terminate the agreements that had been concluded which were based on some standard terms approved in this sector that did not contain any provisions on termination but that according to their wording and the understanding in this sector contain a starting point of non-terminability.

In the judgment from 8 May 2015, the Court found that the furniture manufacturer had not proved that the right to manufacture and sell the furniture designs in question had been finally assigned from the designer to the furniture manufacturer or that the designer had given the furniture designer a non-terminable right to exercise the rights in question. The designer could then terminate the collaboration by giving a suitable notice.

The judgments emphasise the importance of having entered into clear agreements before starting a collaboration when entering into a collaboration between a designer and a manufacturer on the exploitation of designs.

If not, the result could be lengthy and exhausting disputes. In both cases, the parties were involved in legal disputes for about two years before the two judgments were passed and both judgments have now been appealed.

The two judgments about the right to furniture designs can be read here (in Danish):

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