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What the frock? A designer's costly dressing down |
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Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
 For anyone interested in intellectual property, these garments — one by Review (left), the other a
Lili brand (right) dress sold in a Charlie Brown shop — are the key pieces of evidence
in a landmark Federal Court case about copying and infringement of a registered
design.
The case has ended with a victory — and an award of $17,500 in damages — for
Melbourne fashion label Review over the Sydney-based company behind fashion
labels Charlie Brown and Lili.
The ruling, by the Federal Court's Justice Christopher Jessup, will be
closely scrutinised by every fashion house in Australia because it is the first
court judgement on the issue of copying and damages since a dramatic 2003 change
to the Designs Act, requiring garment designs to be registered before any legal
action over garment copying can be taken.
Justice Jessup found that the Lili dress had been copied from the Review
dress. He ordered the Lili label's parent company, Innovative Lifestyle
Investments Pty Ltd, to also pay Review's legal costs, estimated to be $60,000.
Adding in its own legal costs, including fees for a silk at the three-day
hearing, the case is estimated to have cost the company $200,000.
Click here to read more about this landmark case and its significance from The Age.
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