Retail chain Zara Home has been ordered to pay €7.500,- for copying a coat of arms that was created for a Dutch family.
Belgian designer Patrick Damiaens sued the Spanish company after spotting his design in a decorative candle in a branch of Zara Home in France. A judge agreed that there were overwhelming similarities between his work and the engraving on the candle, which compromised the unique character of the work.
The designer’s lawyer was happy: “As far as I know this is the first time a court has found against a ‘fast retailer’ for copying and commercialising somebody else’s work without permission. We wanted to have acknowledged that there was a breach of Damiaens’ copyright, rather than reach a settlement where Zara Home took the candles off the shelves without admitting that they were wrong.”