""Generic furniture" refers to furniture modeled on brands whose design rights -- lasting 20 years -- have expired. As manufacturers of this type of furniture don't need to pay any licensing fees, they can replicate the originals cheaply. Here the term "generic" derives from generic medicines -- cheap reproductions of existing medicines whose patents have expired."
Source:
'Generic' furniture lures customers with lower price tags
August 19th 2013
Mainichi Shimbun
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