H&M undone by High Court bra patent ruling

The English High Court has ruled that fashion retailer H&M infringed a UK patent covering the fabric for the underwire used in bras owned by Stretchline International.

Mr Justice Carr ruled on Friday, November 20, that H&M had breached a 2011 settlement agreement between the two parties that it would not sell products that infringed the UK patent.

The disputed products are the Devsel, Rimteks and Takefast range of bras.

In 2010, Stretchline sued H&M for infringement, but a year later both parties agreed to settle the case.

Under the agreement, Stretchline said it would not file a patent infringement claim and H&M said it would not sell infringing products or challenge the validity of Stretchline’s patent.

But in 2013, Stretchline complained that H&M had violated the agreement by selling infringing products. H&M counterclaimed that the patent was invalid on the grounds of obviousness.

Earlier this year, the English Court of Appeal upheld a high court ruling that H&M was barred by the 2011 agreement from trying to invalidate the patent .

The latest ruling from the high court concerned Stretchline’s claim that H&M breached that agreement by selling infringing products.

“I conclude that each of the Devsel, Rimteks and Takefast bras which are the subject of this action fall within the claims of the patent. The sale of such bras by H&M was made in breach of the settlement agreement,” Carr concluded.