Can retail formats be protected by copyright?
In April this year the Italian Supreme Court gave its decision
in relation to the longstanding dispute between Italian cosmetics
company Kiko and its competitor Wycon.
Background
The two have been at loggerheads since 2009, with Kiko alleging
that Wycon copied its concept cosmetic stores.
In 2005, Kiko invested a reported 700,000 EUR to develop a new
appearance for its stores. The stores comprised of an open space,
with walls featuring plexiglass storage boxes for cosmetics
products, curved shaped islands in the centre of each store and use
of the select colours, namely white, black and purple.
Despite failing in previous attempts, in 2013 Kiko received a
favourable judgement from the Court of Milan. The court considered
that copyright did subsist in Kiko's store layout, qualifying
as "interior furnishing" under Italy's open list of
works that can be subject to copyright. Further, that this work was
original
