Hong Kong businessman Paul Beverley has vowed to "immediately appeal" against a legal ruling that he copied a design for a children's ride-on suitcase created by a rival British toy firm.
A British court found in favour of Magmatic, which claimed the Kiddee Case made by Beverley's PMS International closely resembled the design of its Trunki case.
"We believe we have some very large differences in appearance," Beverley said, adding that he had consulted lawyers on what he needed to do to avoid infringement concerns before starting production. "The concept of a children's small suitcase on wheels is not a protectable property," he said.
Beverley said an artist at PMS' Asian subsidiary in Tsim Sha Tsui had created the design for the case on his instructions.
According to court documents, Beverley said he had seen the Trunki in 2010, felt the product needed a lower-priced rival, and sought to exploit what he felt was a gap in the market.
The judge, Mr Justice Arnold, said in his ruling that the "overall impression" infringed the intellectual property of Trunki designer Rob Law.