IKEA announces patent pledge for Anchor and Unlock, a new tip-over safety innovation

With its first patent pledge and based on the desire to help make life at home safer for the many, IKEA shares its Anchor and Unlock innovation for others to use. The VIHALS chest of drawers is the first globally sold product with Anchor and Unlock – a stability feature to help reduce the risk of furniture tip-overs and a proof point to the IKEA innovations journey on clothing storage furniture stability.

Customer safety is a top priority for IKEA. Based on the company’s vision to create a better everyday life for many people, IKEA maintains the commitment that no one should be harmed by a tip-over incident.  

The Anchor and Unlock stability innovation
IKEA believes the safest way in any context is to anchor clothing storage furniture to the wall. The Anchor and Unlock feature works as an incentive for customers to secure their chests or dressers: Only when attached to a wall the unlock mechanism is enabled and multiple drawers of a chest can be opened simultaneously. Before the furniture is anchored, only a limited number of drawers can be used at a time. IKEA believes the Anchor and Unlock feature has the potential to reduce the tip-over risk as well as contribute to an understanding that chests of drawers may tip over if not anchored to a wall.  

The first globally available IKEA products that include Anchor and Unlock are VIHALS chests of drawers. IKEA customers can choose between three different versions, a 4-drawer chest, and two 6-drawer dressers. The chests and dressers are part of the overall VIHALS storage solutions – products from this series can easily be combined for a cohesive look throughout the home.  

“VIHALS is one product, with one specific solution – more will come. Within the coming years, we will continue to develop products with innovative stability features for our customers globally” says Marie Klaesson, Manager for Range Area Bedroom Furniture at IKEA of Sweden. “The solution will not be the same for each product, different features and new innovations will be built into new pieces of furniture.”  

Recently, IKEA introduced GREÅKER, a cabinet with drawers. GREÅKER should always be anchored to the wall, and in addition its custom hinges allow the doors to only open at a certain angle to further enhance the cabinet’s stability.   

A patent pledge to enable collaboration 
IKEA draws on 80 years’ experience in life at home. Based on this knowledge, its research and development have led to a series of patented inventions in the field of clothing storage furniture stability. 

“At IKEA, we are proud of our innovation, and we protect it with our patents. But in this case, we hope others will adopt Anchor and Unlock for their products as well” says Carl Ervér, patent manager at IKEA of Sweden. “For us at IKEA, clothing storage furniture stability is not a matter of competition but one of collaboration"  

IKEA has the ambition to influence change in the furniture industry, to reduce tip-over incidents and support people to live a safer life at home. IKEA strongly believes in collaboration and the patent pledge defines the requirements under which others can adopt the IKEA Anchor and Unlock innovation. With this pledge, IKEA hopes to encourage other furniture manufacturers to consider this approach as well. Please visit the patent pledge page on IKEA.com for detailed information.

The IKEA stability innovations journey 
IKEA is on an innovation journey and remains committed to continue to develop products with new stability benefits and features for its clothing storage furniture range.

Today, all IKEA chests of drawers meet the applicable industry standards in markets where they are sold and are safe to use when properly anchored to a wall, with assembly instructions being carefully followed.

For decades IKEA has included tip-over restraints with chests of drawers over a certain height as well as other products. IKEA supports home safety by educating its customers about the importance of anchoring chests of drawers to the wall. The goal is making anchoring furniture second nature.

IKEA looks forward to continuing to play a collaborative role within the industry, as well as with legislators, regulators, standard-setting committees, consumer safety advocates and its customers to promote safe furniture use to create a safer life at home.

IKEA aims to design and develop products that withstand the tough test of everyday life at home – and by that help make home a safer place. Please visit the Our view on product safety for more information.

About IKEA
IKEA offers well-designed, functional and affordable, high-quality home furnishing, produced with care for people and the environment. There are several companies with different owners, working under the IKEA Brand, all sharing the same vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943.

About the IKEA franchise system
The IKEA retail business is operated through a franchise system with franchisees that are authorized to market and sell the IKEA product range within specified geographical territories. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is the owner of the IKEA Concept and worldwide IKEA franchisor, who also assigns different IKEA companies to develop the product range, supply products and deliver communication solutions. Today, 12 different groups of companies have the right to own and operate IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V.

About Inter IKEA Group
Inter IKEA Group includes Inter IKEA Systems B.V., IKEA of Sweden AB, IKEA Supply AG and IKEA Industry AB related businesses. Inter IKEA Holding B.V. is the holding company for the Inter IKEA Group.