Clothing retailer Primark has been forced to withdraw six items of clothing from its stores after upmarket rival Monsoon sued, alleging that the discount chain had copied some of its designs.
Monsoon, which also owns the Accessorize stores, is demanding £200,000 in damages for infringement of its design rights in the products, according to reports."We take any infringement of our design and copyright very seriously," said Rose Foster, Monsoon's chief executive.The items of clothing, for women and children, include a zigzag linen skirt, a curved panelled skirt, tropical floral print swimwear, girls' corduroy trousers, children's striped scarf, and poodle and heart sock.The lawsuit follows an earlier case between the two retailers over the alleged copying of a top and a butterfly dress. That case settled last year with Primark, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, paying £23,000.In the UK, an unregistered design right attaches automatically to designs created after 1st August 1989, giving the owner the right to stop anyone in the UK from copying the design without authorisation.The right only applies to designs that are substantially the same as that originally created, and it lasts for a maximum of only 15 years.There is also an EU unregistered design right, which has similarities to the home-grown version but lasts only for three years from the date on which the design was first made publicly available within the EU.
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