Design Rights Intellectual Property Problem Q

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Sofas’R’Us plc is a United Kingdom company specialising in the manufacture and selling of lounge furniture, particularly chairs and sofas made out of leather. In the summer of 2008, the company was approached by Herbie, a world famous Mexican designer. Herbie offered to design a new recliner chair for the company. Initially, Sofas’R’Us was not sure whether it wanted to add another chair to their range of products, but when company staff saw the drawings which Herbie produced they decided to go ahead. The drawings were therefore sent to the company’s factory in Chesterfield where a prototype was made. Once the prototype had been tested, the company decided to go ahead with production. The first chairs went on sale in the company’s Oxford Street store in London in January 2009, and despite the recession proved to be an instant success, winning critical acclaim from those in the designs industry. One of the key features of Herbie’s recliner chair is that it has a headrest which is very similar to headrests found in car seats. The headrest can be adjusted to suit the user of the chair. The recliner chair also has folding arms, enabling the user to get out of the chair more easily. These are similar to the folding arms found on the seats in railway carriages. The chair also has a footrest shaped like a dog: when asked about this, Herbie said he drew his inspiration from a royal tomb in Westminster Abbey, where the stone figure of a knight in armour is shown with his feet resting on a pet dog. Lastly, hidden underneath the leather covering the backrest and seat are round, electrically operated pads which enable the user of the chair to have a massage. Sofas’R’Us now seeks your advice as to whether it might have any cause of action under the CDPA in respect of each of the following: (a) a mattress which has round, electrically operated massage pads; (b) a typist’s

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