A dress maker who starred in Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has won a legal battle with an employee turned rival she accused of ripping off her designs.
Thelma Madine, 65, sued her former designer Leanne Phillips, 35, for copying her work.
She claimed Ms Phillips, who also appeared on the hit show, took the idea for one of her ‘game changing’ giant wedding dress designs.
Ms Madine said Ms Phillips used it to design a dress and to launch a range of collectable porcelain figurines.
Leanne Phillips (left, arriving at the High Court) was once the head designer for Thelma Madine (right) at Nico salon in Liverpool, made famous by the Channel 4 show
She is now try to claim £20,000 in damages from her rival, as well as £90,000 in legal costs.
The pair fell out in 2012 when Ms Phillips was sacked from Ms Madine’s Liverpool-based shop Nico, later bringing a successful claim against her for unfair dismissal.
Ms Phillips went on in 2013 to set up her own rival dress design shop, also in Liverpool, called Leanne Alexandra.
Ms Madine and her co-claimant The English Ladies, a firm which makes the porcelain dolls, also accused Ms Phillips’ mother, Pauline Phillips, a former manager at Nico, of copying her work.
She alleged that Pauline Phillips had taken copies of a dress design from her workplace, with a ‘view to enabling her daughter to make the dress’ for a bride, the judge noted.
They denied the accusations, and said their dress and the figurine were original designs.
A judge, sitting at the High Court in London, ruled the claim against Leanne Phillips for design right infringement was successful.
But she did not uphold the claim against Pauline Phillips, ruling she was not jointly liable with her daughter.
The Fan Dress (pictured) was first created for a gypsy bride called Delilah in 2011 and both Ms Phillips and Ms Madine worked on the design together
In her judgment, Miss Recorder Amanda Michaels said of Ms Madine: ‘It seems that the hallmark of her dress designs is their extravagance, not just in terms of the price of the gowns, but in terms of the size and weight of the skirts, which tend to have to be supported by hoops (like a crinoline), and the elaborate nature of the decoration applied to the dresses.
‘Ms Madine and her designs have become well-known as a result of her appearance on the Channel 4 television programmes ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
‘Two series of the show were broadcast in 2011 and 2012 as well as a number of individual programmes.
‘Ms Madine has also appeared on a number of other television programmes, speaking about her dress designs, and has featured in the columns of national newspapers.
‘Both Pauline and Leanne Phillips appeared in episodes of the TV series.’
She said Leanne Phillips’ dress was ‘deliberately copied’.
Recorder Michaels added: ‘In the circumstances, I am satisfied that the similarities between the two designs arise from copying, which in the circumstances must have been deliberate, even if Leanne Phillips might have preferred (as she claimed) to produce a wholly original design.
‘I consider that someone to whom the design was directed – the customer – would have seen the two designs as substantially similar.’
She said the manufacturing of the infringing Crystal Figurines was ‘authorised’ by Leanne Phillip, who provided photographs of the design.
Ms Madine’s legal team is seeking an interim £20,000 payment for damages. Costs will be decided at a later date.
Speaking outside court, Ms Madine said: ‘I am really relieved – it’s been a long process.
‘You just don’t know what way it’s going to go. But I think the truth prevails in the end.
‘We knew from day one it was an exact copy. The right decision was reached. I will be celebrating.
‘It’s taken two-and-a-half years. And when you are running a business yourself, it’s tough.
‘I feel like a weight has been lifted off me.’
She said the case had cost £90,000 in legal bills, split between her and The English Ladies.
Ms Madine said: ‘We wanted her to stop making the figurines, and she decided to carry on defending the claim.
‘That’s why all these costs have mounted up. Between us it’s cost about £90,000. It’s been about £45,000 for me.’