Last month Class 99 posted this note on the appeal decision in Magmatic Ltd v PMS International Ltd,  the Trunki "horned animal" children's suitcase infringement dispute.

Yesterday the Court of Appeal for England and Wales had to sort out a bit of a tangle over the parties' costs.  Although PMS successfully argued that it did not infringe Magmatic's Community registered design, that was just one part of a complex set of claims and counterclaims relating to copyright infringement and passing off as well as design validity and infringement.  Each party "won" some issues and "lost" others, but the defendant PMS won more than it lost and came out the "winner".

On balance, said the Court of Appeal here, PMS -- whose costs were some 50% higher than design owner Magmatic -- was entitled to recover 45% of its costs [note: the decision only speaks in terms of percentages, but does not specify any particular sums].

Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court has been refused.