The Arco lamp is a modern overhead lamp designed by brothers Pier Giacomo and

Achille Achille is a French and Italian masculine given name, derived from the Greek mythological hero Achilles. It may refer to: People Artists * Achille Beltrame (1871–1945), Italian painter * Achille Calici (c. 1565–?), Italian painter * Achil ...

Castiglioni for

Flos ''Flos'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. The species of this genus are commonly known as plushblues and are found in the Indomalayan realm. Species *''Flos diardi'' (Hewitson, 1862) - shining plushblue, bifid plushblue *'' ...

in 1962. The lamp is characterized by a suspended spun aluminum pendant attached to an upright slab of

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of ...

via a large, arching arm made of stainless steel. The lamp has been in constant production since its original release in 1962.

History

Intellectual property case

In November 2006, Flos brought charges against

Semeraro Casa & Famiglia SpA Semeraro is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Domenico Semeraro (born 1964), Swiss bobsledder *Marcello Semeraro Marcello Semeraro (born 22 December 1947) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Prefect ...

, claiming that the company had violated copyright law in selling a similar lamp named "Fluida." Advocate General

Yves Bot Yves Bot (August 22, 1947 – June 9, 2019) was a French magistrate who served until his death as Advocate General at the European Court of Justice. Biography In 1995, Yves Bot was nominated by Jacques Toubon, then Minister of Justice, as pr ...

deemed that while the Fluida lamp was created in imitation of the original Arco design, production of the product was legal as the original design had since entered the public domain. Following the 2001 implementation of the

Directive on the legal protection of designs Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs is a European Union directive in the field of industrial design rights, made under the internal market provisions of the T ...

, Bot ordered Semeraro to cease production of the Fluida lamp.

References

Italian design Types of lamp Products introduced in 1962 {{design-stub