A decision is expected by the Supreme Court today in the long-running battle between two rival children’s luggage makers, Magmatic and PMS International.
Magmatic, the UK-based creator of popular children’s suitcase the Trunki, has claimed that PMS International copied their design in creating the Kiddee Case. Both of which have been made for children to ride on, and are in the shape of animals.
Initially the High Court ruled that PMS had copied the design, but the decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal who said that the cases were sufficiently different in their design. The case went to the Supreme Court in November, from which a decision is expected later today – however, it may be referred to the European Court of Justice.
Ewan Grist, a specialist intellectual property lawyer at law firm Bird & Bird, said the case was “likely to have profound implications in the design world, whichever way the supreme court rules”.
The founder of Magmatic, Robert Law, has described the court of appeal’s ruling as disastrous for hundreds of thousands of small creative British businesses, tweeting after the Supreme Court case:
“350,000 British designers in UK contributing £16bn to economy yet copyists can get away with stealing designs.”
09/03/2016
