Next has claimed victory in a dispute with home textiles retailer Rosebys over alleged design copying.
Rosebys - owned by Homestyle - has paid£75,000 out of court for alleged infringement of Next Home embroidered stars bedlinen, but has not admitted liability.
Next's design first appeared in autumn/winter 2000 and the Rosebys design went on sale in March 2002.
A Next spokeswoman said the retailer takes copycat design seriously: 'It affects the exclusivity of our brand and causes erosion of sales. We invest a significant amount of time and money in the design process.'
Rosebys finance director Mark Dyson said his design was created in China.
He insisted: 'We had quite a robust defence, but it would have cost a lot of money to go to court. There's always the risk we would have lost.'
In October 2002, Littlewoods also settled out of court after being accused of copying the same Next bedlinen design.
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