Taylors' IP wins against fashion house

The Intellectual Property team at commercial law firm, Taylors, has assisted British fashion house John Charles in settling its High Court claim against design house Gino Cerruti and its director Gurpreet Singh Johar.

John Charles claimed infringement by Gino Cerruti of community unregistered design right in nine original John Charles designs.

Taylors secured a very favourable settlement which required Gino Cerruti and Mr Johar to make a substantial payment to John Charles in respect of damages together with 100% of its legal costs. Gino Cerruti was also required to give undertakings to destroy its residual stock and to not in future manufacture, import, offer for sale or sell copies of the nine John Charles designs.

Tony Catterall, head of intellectual property at Taylors Solicitors, said: “Taylors’ success on behalf of John Charles in ensuring these copies are taken off the market and obtaining a substantial cash settlement for damages and costs illustrates that the English legal system has teeth with which to bite plagiarists.

"This should send a strong message to those seeking to ride on the creative efforts of reputable designers that they will be made to suffer the financial consequences of their unlawful conduct and represents another step along the road towards stamping out the blatant plagiarism that is rife in the fashion market."

Barry Waterman, chairman of John Charles, said: “I am very pleased with the result Taylors has secured for us. Taylors was referred to us by an industry expert who knew of the firm’s expertise in the field of intellectual property. We felt that we had no alternative but to pursue this claim to protect the integrity of our design process and the investment expended in creating a range of original designs. “The outcome vindicates our decision to sue Gino Cerruti and its owner, Mr Johar, and sends a message to the industry that John Charles will not stand by and see its valuable intellectual property rights violated."