PARIS: A French lighting designer has won a $600,000 court ruling in a dispute with Brad Pitt over the re-design of the chateau in Provence that he and Angelina Jolie shared. But designer Odile Soudant isn’t stopping there.

Soudant says her business went under and her career was irreparably damaged because of Pitt’s refusal to pay for costly architectural reveries. She’s now fighting for the intellectual property rights to the Chateau Miraval’s lighting design. Pitt’s representatives argue the project was late and over-budget and the disputed lighting design was Pitt’s brainchild not hers.

Soudant’s legal actions are the latest challenge for Pitt, who is in protracted divorce proceedings with Jolie.

Chateau Miraval is a symbol of happier times in the couple’s relationship. They stayed at the sprawling 17th-century estate when she gave birth to their twins in nearby Monaco in 2008, launched a successful wine venture from its rich vineyards, and married there in 2014.

Soon after they bought Miraval, nestled in the rolling, wooded hills near the village of Correns, Pitt sought out designers to re-envision it for the 21st century. Because Pitt considers the lighting his intellectual property, Soudant says she can’t include the Miraval work in her company’s portfolio. She started legal procedures this month seeking to establish her property rights.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2017