The 620 Chair Programme had only been on the market for seven years before it was copied.

Court action was commenced in Germany and the following expert opinion was one of those submitted to the court:

“The 620 armchair has been on the market for approximately seven years… In this period hundreds of other designs for furniture have disappeared without trace from the market and from the consciousness of customers… Today, 620 can safely be considered one of the few major furniture designs of the century, alongside those of Breuer, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Aalto and Saarinen."

Dr Hans Wichmann, 15 July 1971

On 10 October 1973 the court substantiated:

“The design of this chair is a personal, original creation of a highly aesthetic value.“

Accordingly the 620 Chair Programme was granted copyright protection and may be regarded as a work of art.

On being asked in 2006 whether design could be regarded as art, Dieter Rams said, "The question is obsolete. Engineers can be artists. So can architects, gardeners or any other person skilled in their trade."

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