Interiors firm Zara Home has been ordered to pay €7,500 for copying a coat of arms created for a Dutch family.

Belgian designer Patrick Damiaens took the company to court after spotting his design in a decorative candle in a branch of Zara Home in France.

A judge agreed that there were overwhelming similarities between his work and the engraving on the candle, which compromised the unique character of the work.

His lawyer, Dieter Delarue, told Belgian newspaper De Standaard: ‘As far as I know this is the first time a court has found against a “fast retailer” for copying and commercialising somebody else’s work without permission.’

Delarue said: ‘We wanted to show in black and white that there was a breach of Damiaens’ authorial rights, rather than reach a settlement where Zara Home took the candles off the shelves without admitting they were in the wrong.

‘If Mr Damiaens designs an eagle for a family’s coat of arms, that family is entitled to expect that the eagle won’t turn up in some other work. Certainly not on a candle.’