European Fashion Law

What connects Leonardo Da Vinci, a Christmas miracle and the possible award of exemplary damages? The answer lies in a recent High Court judgment by Mr Justice Jacobs (Salt Ship Design AS v Prysmian Powerlink SRL). The case concerned designs for a cable lay vessel produced by Salt Ship Design for Prysmian. The judge found that Prysmian (a company with annual revenue of €10 billion) had made the designs available to another designer, Vard Design AS, which was associated with t

The High Court has recently provided guidance for employees in relation to the Recast Brussels Regulation. This guidance can be neatly summarised as: France 1 England 0. The High Court has ruled in favour of two former employees in a case concerning Article 22.1 of the Recast Brussels Regulation (RBR). The judgment in Semtech Corporation & Ors v Lacuna Space Ltd & Ors clearly sets out the test to be applied in deciding whether disputes relate to contracts of employment. The i

What does the fashion industry hang on? The Janger is designed for travel and holiday use (so probably isn't getting a lot of use at the moment!) Most fashion cases concern design right, copyright and trade marks. It is relatively unusual for patents and fashion to collide. The Janger Ltd v Tesco Plc [2020] EWHC 3450 (IPEC) (16 December 2020) was one of the last cases from 2020 and one of the few to look at patents and fashion. Janger had a patent for “A hangable garment hook

Nobody wants their business secrets getting shared. This can happen broadly online or directly to a particular competitor. Both can be very damaging for the business. In fashion businesses, confidential information will often include strategy, factory connections, manufacturing processes or new designs (i.e. intellectual property rights). Remember that if a design has been shared online or registered with an intellectual property office, it is now public and consequently not