
Jonathan Lucas – Elstead Lighting Mark Lissauer – Franklite ‘Senza’
Congratulations to ACID members Franklite and Elstead Lighting for winning two prestigious Lighting Association awards at the recent Interiors Event at the NEC in Birmingham last week. Franklite’s Senza is an excellent example of bringing innovation through technology into the household, winning best product award for their exclusive black/clear lead crystal glass on a fitting of original design. Franklite had a very successful show and the new catalogue (number 20) for 2008 will be available in the next few weeks, with this and many other new and innovative products for domestic and contract applications.
Elstead Lighting’s product, Azure LE6/PIR also one Best Product in its category with judges commenting on the unique technical features, combining an energy saving lamp source to a passive Infra Red sensor producing an outdoor fitting of ultra low energy consumption. Jonathan Lucas said ’ Elstead Lighting is pround to have recieved this award. From the inception to final working model, the driving force behind the product idea was to bring to market a product that as well as good looking had unique and exceptional energy saving properties. The Azure is just one of many models being developed by Elstead using this technology.’
Dids Macdonald, ACID’s CEO said, ‘Sometimes award winning products can be a target as a fast route to market success by unscrupulous copyists – but a word of warning! In the recent landmark case of Procter & Gamble against Reckitt Benckiser which clarified design law, the Judge ruled that in future, designers who have won accolades in the press or through design awards can use this as evidence of commercial success, demonstrating that their designs are novel and, therefore, enforceable. Winning awards like these are clearly industry accolades but now, thanks to Lord Justice Jacob, winning an award and the subsequent publicity can now be a really positive addition to the IP armoury of design protection.’
Mark Lissauer, Franklite’s managing director, told ACID at the exhibition that he had already been visited on the stand by the lighting buyer of a well known high street retailer, who was unable (or unwilling) to identify himself as a legitimate trade visitor representing the retail chain. He had expressed a particular interest in the award-winning product. All trade visitors at ACID Accredited Exhibitions must be able to identify themselves with a bona fide business card, which states their name, position and the company for whom they work. It is hoped that all responsible retail chains will support UK designers by ordering award winning products, bringing originality and new innovation to the consumer from their rightful design originators. Within retail chain buying, sadly, it would appear to be a fairly common practice to head straight to the Far East to ask manufacturers to produce remarkably similar look-alikes. A word of warning to some retail chain buyers, in future they should take notice of Lord Justice Jacob’s ruling!