Australia's struggle with managing the issue of copyright, intellectual property, patent protection, replicas and the prevalence of fakes, continues. In the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday (26/9/2011) the long running matter of Herman Miller vs Matt Blatt went public. The US design and manufacture giant's law suit to curb the local sale of conterfeit pieces of their furniture being "passed off" as authentic (namely Eames' collections), has seen the matter taken to the Federal Court of Australia. In what is a bold but welcome move by Herman Miller, we see the work of the Authentic Design Alliance (ADA) being put into motion and the local issue of copyright loop holes being taken global. The practice of investing original design with a sense of value that goes beyond merely the immitation of appearance; trickles down to upholding manufacturing and quality standards, the protection of the designers intellectual property,  and the fostering of original design - without which an entire industry can and could dry up. We, as we are sure many of you will, watch eagerly to see how this landmark case will play out For more on the ADA and the importance of protecting design through buying original design, click here.