One of Britain's most exclusive clothing chains won a landmark case today after it claimed Dunnes Stores copied its design.
At the High Court in Dublin, Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan found against Dunnes in the first of three cases being taken by the parent company of Karen Millen, Mosaic Fashions.
The Karen Millen shirt and the Savida shirt as presented in a photograph to the court.
The action centred on two Karen Millen shirts and one sweater that went on sale in December 2005 and that the British clothing giant claimed Dunnes had copied after similar items appeared on its shelf in 2006.
Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan said: "The use made [by Dunnes of the items] is an infringement of the plaintiff's unregistered community design and it is entitled pursuant to Article 19 of the regulation to prevent the defendant making use thereof."
It had been agreed the judge should rule on the Millen case before hearing similar actions taken by Coast Ltd and Whistles Ltd, also owned by Mosaic.
It is the first case of its kind to be heard in Ireland under an EU regulation protecting new and individual designs.
Speaking after the hearing Mosaic's managing director Miriam Lahivey said the company was delighted with the judgment.
Michael McDowell SC, in opening the case for Karen Millen in October, had said there would be evidence that almost exact copies of the clothing items launched and sold by the British company were subsequently marketed by Dunnes.
He argued the similarities were not innocent or coincidental. Mosaic Fashions claimed this was an infringement of its rights under a 2001 European regulation on unregistered community designs.
Under article 6 of that regulation it states a design must make a different overall impression on "an informed user" before it can be protected by the law.
Denying the claims Dunnes Stores insisted the Millen items were not originals.
The hearing on the case lasted five days before the Commercial Court, the High Court's commercial wing.
PA