It adds the court unanimously confirmed the judgment handed down last year in the North Gauteng High Court by Judge Natvarlal Ranchod, and dismissed BMW's appeal with costs, including for two counsel. The report notes BMW instituted legal action against Grandmark for allegedly infringing the aesthetic designs it had registered under the Designs Act for the bonnet, grille, headlight assembly, and front fender for its E46 vehicle. Grandmark contested the allegations of infringement of the designs, counter claiming that their registration should be revoked on the grounds that they did not qualify for registration. According to the report, Appeal Court Judge Robert Nugent noted that the Designs Act distinguished between 'aesthetic designs' and 'functional designs' and specifically excluded spare parts from the protection of a registered functional design. He dismissed BMW's claim that its components were aesthetic designs as defined in the law. They were purely functional in nature and should not have been registered as aesthetic designs. 'The articles embodying the designs are not selected by customers for their appeal to the eye. They are selected solely for the function they perform - which is to replace components so as to restore the vehicle to its original form,' Nugent is reported to have said. Full Business Day report (subscription needed) See also a Beeld report Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft v Grandmark International (722/12)