Fake Cobonpue furniture destroyed

MANILA, Philippines – Sixteen pieces of furniture that were imitations of products of world famous designer Kenneth Cobonpue were destroyed yesterday outside the Tagaytay City regional trial court due to copyright violations.

Judge Jaime Santiago of the Tagaytay court issued the order to destroy the fake furniture last Oct. 8.

RSK Furniture was found to be producing fake Cobonpue designs and selling the products for prices ranging from P10,000 to P15,000 per piece.

The Tagaytay-based establishment is owned by Edith Pamintuan, Elmer Pamintuan and Christian Rolm Pamintuan.

Among Cobonpue’s designs that were faked were Yin & Yang and Voyage chairs, as well as the Yoda chairs that were used during 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ welcome dinner held last month in Manila.

Lawyer Franklin Gerard Galman of the Bengzon Negre Untalan Intellectual Property Attorneys said the store owners were charged with copyright infringement for reproducing furniture with Cobonpue’s designs.

The criminal complaints for copyright infringement were filed against the owners of the said establishment after authorities raided their factory in January 2014.

Violation of the intellectual property law is punishable by imprisonment of one to three years and a fine ranging from P50,000 to P150,000.

“Copyright infringement is a crime. If people were just allowed to copy others’ creations, there would be no incentives to create literary and artistic works. The Intellectual Property Code ensures that designers such as Mr. Cobonpue are adequately protected,” Galman added.

Cobonpue said that the destruction of the fake furniture was a landmark case, as this is the first time that a designer had to go all the way to the courts to pursue copyright violators in the Philippines.

“We call ourselves the creative capital of Asia. Hence, it is important for our original designs to be respected and protected by law for a design industry to thrive in our country and be known in the world. I encourage other designers to protect their designs at the intellectual property office and actively pursue cases against infringers and violators,” Cobonpue said.

He also asked the media to help raise public awareness on intellectual property issues and the public to always support local designers and manufacturers by buying original products.

Cobonpue was called “rattan’s first virtuoso” by TIME magazine in 2007.

His clients include top Hollywood personalities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and royalty like Queen Sophia of Spain and Queen Rania Al Abdullah.