Designer says Dunnes was copying
\nIrish Times, Ireland<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An Irish fashion designer told the High Court today that a Dunnes Stores top was “a direct copy” of a Karen Millen sweater.<\/p>\n
In a landmark case over the protection of design rights, Ms Helen McAlinden said she had examined both the Karen Millen “cami vest with a full shrug” and a Savida sweater sold by Dunnes Stores.<\/p>\n
“I look at the Dunnes Stores garment as a direct copy. There is a slight difference in the shade of the black. I think any consumer would see these garments as the same,” she said.<\/p>\n
Asked by Mr Michael Mc Dowell SC, for Mosaic, the UK retail chain which includes Karen Millen, what she would think if she saw two women wearing the Karen Millen garment and the Dunnes Stores garment, she replied: “I would say they are both wearing very nice tops but they are the same.”<\/p>\n
Yesterday was the second day of the action in the Commercial Court by Mosaic Fashions, the parent company of Karen Millen Ltd, Coast Ltd and Whistles Ltd, against Dunnes Stores.<\/p>\n
The companies claim that Dunnes had produced almost identical womens clothing items to a number of tops produced by them, thus infringing their design rights as protected by a new European regulation of 2001 on Unregistered Community Designs.<\/p>\n
The UK companies are not seeking damages but are seeking an order for all necessary accounts and enquiries.<\/p>\n
Dunnes Stores has denied the claims.<\/p>\n
The action is the first to be taken under the new regulation in Ireland and the first case in Europe involving fashion items.<\/p>\n
The European regulation is designed to protect design rights and to prevent their unauthorised copying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Designer says Dunnes was copying Irish Times, Ireland An Irish fashion designer told the High Court today that a Dunnes Stores top was “a direct copy” of a Karen Millen sweater. In a landmark case over the protection of design rights, Ms Helen McAlinden said she had examined both the Karen Millen “cami vest with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n