London - Anti Copying in Design (ACID), which has aided in the effort to stop plagiarism among fabric manufacturers over the years, acted on a report of copyright infringement at Decosit, according to Fabienne Brison, associate lawyer for ACID in Brussels.

''[The dispute was between] two Italian companies,'' Brison said. ''We cannot disclose their names.''

The complaint, filed by an Italian company was against another Italian company exhibiting at Decosit for the first time, said Dids Macdonald, chief executive of ACID. ''Approximately seven fabric ranges were involved in the dispute.''

Using what it refers to as exhibition protocol, ACID received the complaint informally and passed it on to the alleged infringer. ''Our objectives were to provide an on-the-spot mediation facilitated by the ACID associate lawyers to find a solution,'' Macdonald said.

In this instance, the Italian company who alleged infringement provided evidence proving ownership of the designs in question. The other company could not provide proof and agreed to take their products down, according to Macdonald.

''The company was also advised that organizers have a no-tolerance policy on plagiarism,'' said Macdonald ''As newcomers to the show, they must adhere in the future to the rules, which clearly stipulate that an exhibiting company must own rights or have a license to exhibit the products on their stands.''

Despite the efforts of ACID and other companies like it, copyright infringement continues in the fabric industry. According to Macdonald ACID cannot stop it alone. ''Exhibitors must realize that they have a duty to make sure that they have all documentation to prove that they own the intellectual property rights to the products,'' she said. ''Billions of euros are lost each year through plagiarism, the market share and investment into design origination, which must be protected at all costs.'' F&FI