Dunnes Stores top ‘a direct copy’ of Karen Millen design
Helen McAlinden said in evidence, that she had examined both the Karen Millen “cami vest with a full shrug”, and a Savida sweater sold by Dunnes Stores.
“I look at the Dunnes Stores garment as a direct copy. There is a slight difference in the shade of the black [but] I think any consumer would see these garments as the same,” she added.
It was the second day of a legal action in the Commercial Court by Mosaic Fashions, the parent company of Karen Millen Ltd, against Dunnes Stores.
Asked by former Tánaiste Michael McDowell, SC for Mosaic, what she would think if she saw two women wearing the Karen Millen and Dunnes Stores garments, the witness said: “I would say they are both wearing very nice tops, but they are the same.”
Mosaic-owned brands Whistles and Coast are also involved in the case. The companies involved claim that Dunnes produced women’s clothing items almost identical to a number of their tops, and that this infringes design rights protected by a 2001 European regulation on Unregistered Community Designs.
The companies are not seeking damages, but an order for all necessary accounts and inquiries. Dunnes Stores have denied the claims.
It is the first case to be taken in Ireland and the first case in Europe involving fashion items, under a new EU regulation that is meant to protect design rights and prevent their unauthorised copying.
Ms McAlinden told Mr McDowell she has been in the fashion industry for 25 years.
After working as a freelance designer both here and in Britain, she set up her own label in 2001.
Ms McAlinden’s clothes are now sold in House of Fraser in Dundrum, another outlet in Dublin, an outlet in Belfast and two shops in Britain.
The expert witness, called by Mosaic, said the Karen Millen top featured a number of distinctive features.
She told the court she had also examined a Karen Millen shirt, which had a number of distinctive features, and a similar Savida shirt from Dunnes Stores.
“It’s almost the same. If two women walked into the room, my initial impression would be that they are wearing the same shirt.”
Cross-examined by Richard Nesbitt, SC for Dunnes Stores, Ms McAlinden said she knew Ian Galvin, Chairman of the Irish Mosaic Group.
She added that Mr Galvin was formerly a shareholder in her company.
Ms McAlinden denied that she had a business relationship with Mr Galvin, but added that the garment business in Ireland was “a very small industry”.
Opening the case for Dunnes Stores, senior counsel Mr Nesbitt said there was an issue between the parties over what needs to be established to determine if an item of clothing enjoys the protection of the EU design rights laws.
He told the court that, under the European regulations, “copying, per se, isn’t wrong”.
Mr Nesbitt contended that the regulation applies only to designs of sufficient importance and quality to merit such protection. It isn’t enough to demonstrate that a product is new, he said.
“It has got to have individual character,” Mr Nesbitt argued.
“We say this is High Street fashion.
“Our witnesses will [say] that what we are dealing with here is not the kind of fashion that you read about in the newspapers.
“It’s not high fashion.”
The case continues today.
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