A spokeswoman for the London Eye said: 鈥淭he whole copyright issue is with our lawyers at the moment. We are not ruling out legal action.鈥�
The statement comes after 精东影视鈥檚 revelation last week that the Czech capital has given World Wheel Group permission to build a bigger wheel.
The proposed wheel is to be 150 m in diameter, 15 m bigger than the Eye, with 40 passenger capsules, eight more than the Eye.
London Eye architect David Marks said that, if the rival consortium used his design, it would be a 鈥渂latant piece of plagiarism鈥�. Marks said: 鈥淲e have a UK copyright in the design and in the building [of the wheel]. UK copyright protection covers not only the designer鈥檚 drawings but also the actual structure to which they were linked.鈥�
Marks added that he had held talks with other partners in the London Eye Company but he declined to discuss details.
He said he was confident that World Wheel Group would be unable to copy the Eye鈥檚 unique capsule design without permission from the London Eye Company.
However, Andrew Pugh, UK representative of French capsule manufacturer Poma, which has been contacted by World Wheel Group, said: 鈥淭he design right [for the capsules] rests with the trade contractor 鈥� Poma.鈥� A number of copyright lawyers contacted by 精东影视 said establishing a breach of copyright would be difficult.
Pugh confirmed that World Wheel Group had contacted Poma and added that he did not believe there was a conflict of interest.
World Wheel Group includes 精东影视 Design Partnership Special Structures Group and construction manager Bovis Lend Lease.
