Cengage Advantage Books: Law for Business 19th Edition by John Ashcroft,Katherine Ashcroft,Martha Patterson

Exercise 11

When the concluding question in a case problem can be answered simply yes or no, state the legal principle or rule of law that supports your answer.
Universal Furniture International Inc. held copyrights on the designs of two furniture lines it sold. The designer had started with public domain sources, but blended elements from different historical periods and created changes until he found the designs aesthetically pleasing. He had blended the elements to create a different look. A major buyer of the lines asked Collezione Europa USA Inc. to produce a cheaper version. Collezione did not know of the copyrights, but thought the designs were not entitled to copyright protection and could be imitated. It produced furniture so similar that when Universal's senior vice president saw the pieces, he thought they actually were Universal pieces. Universal sued Collezione for infringement. Did Collezione have the right to imitate the designs?