A Case History of Industrial Design Success: The Dove Lamp

Abstract

The dramatic events surrounding the Dove lamp litigation, as told by Mr. Lowy in the preceding paper, reveal a basic truth about industrial design. Good industrial design will make a product successful. It will make profits, add jobs, and benefit the economy.The Dove lamp is an excellent case study. It proves a basic business fact that is often ignored: industrial design protection helps the economy and creates jobs. Congress and others ask how better industrial design protection will help the economy or create jobs? The simple answer is that the goal of industrial design is to create better products and improve the appearances of products.This conference and Mr. Lowy's experience in using the present United States protection system verifies that the United States needs a simpler, cheaper, and more effective industrial design protection system for products that go on the market. Other countries recognized this business fact long ago, as Mr. Lowy's speech emphasizes.The included extract from the PAF S.r.l. v. Lisa Lighting Co. case reveals the history of the Dove lamp: the rewards, recognition, and tremendous economic benefits it created. This story demonstrates why improved United States industrial design protection is important.