The Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) recently submitted prejudicial questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU’s highest court, to clarify the application of Article 2 (7) of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (BC). The prejudicial questions relate to the so-called ‘material reciprocity test’ in relation to works of applied art. In this case, which tests geographical orientation, Vitra Collections, a Swiss manufacturer of American origin, claims that the Dutch and Belgium offices of Kwantum, a home-improvement retailer, infringe on Vitra Collections’ copyright by trading its ‘Paris’ chair.
Are US-Designed Chairs Without US IP Protection Copyright Protectable in Netherlands and Belgium as Works of Applied Art?
