Miller Takes a Stand on Seats

Companies have a hard enough time protecting their brand from knock-offs in the real world. But the rise of virtual worlds has opened a new front in the war on copyright and trademark infringement.

Some manufacturers are deciding that they’ve got a lot at stake in cyberspace, and they’re taking action to defend what they see as their unique intellectual property.

Furniture designer Herman Miller makes the Aeron chair, a plush desk-sitting machine much favored by computer jockeys everywhere. In Second Life, residents can write programs that create objects and then “sell” those virtual goods to others. So it’s not to be wondered that Aeron lookalikes — complete with adjustable settings, very like the real deal — started appearing in Second Life pretty early on and can now be bought with the game’s currency in several places.

Second Life has encountered this kind of infringement issue before, and the world’s creators, Linden Labs, have provisions for taking down applications at the request of rights holders under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But those procedures are slow and run the possible risk of alienating Residents who suddenly find their virtual furniture impounded.

Instead, Herman Miller has taken the step of opening its own store in Second Life and offering residents who own the ersatz Aerons a chance to “Get Real” by trading their faux furniture for an authorized company-designed model free of charge. To get their trade-in, owners need simply to “bring” the copies to the New Herman Miller Second Life store, where the copies will be mulched into pixels. The offer, first made in October, is for a limited time only, although no deadline has been published.

First-time Second Life buyers can get an officially sanctioned Herman Miller design piece for between $350 and $800 Linden dollars — which converts to $1.40 to $3.50 in U.S. currency.

The “Get Real” campaign is actually a bleed-through from carbon-based reality, where Herman Miller has long faced the problem of low-priced copycat versions of its Aeron chairs, Eames chairs and other distinctive designs.

“For some time we’ve urged customers to ‘check the product, check the source and check your conscience’ before purchasing a classic,” said Marg Mojzak, director of Herman Miller for the Home, in a statement. “We’re bringing that same message to Second Life — and in the virtual world you’ll be able to own and enjoy them for pocket change.”