Bob Geldof: Was in court for the hearing

Geldof attended court to hear lawyer Otto van Klinken tell the court that "the unique combination of elements that form Survive! were adopted by Big Brother without the permission of its creators".

He listed 12 points where Big Brother bore uncanny similarities to Survive!

But Joris van Manen, counsel for Endemol, said: "We are dealing with two totally different television programmes."

Survive! was created by the British company Planet 24 - formed by Geldof, Waheed Alli and the show's creator Charlie Parsons. It is best known for shows like The Word and The Big Breakfast.

The trio sold Planet 24 to UK media giant Carlton last year, but retained the rights to Survive!, and subsequently set up Castaway.

The German show's star - Zlatko Trpovski

Outside the court, Geldof said: "Win a lose, it's a point of principle, we're just fed up, you know. It shouldn't be allowed that a huge overweening company takes something you've done.

"If someone ripped off one of my songs I'd do the same thing."

Endemol spokesman Thomas Notermans rejected the allegations, saying: "The genre may be the same, but the programmes are completely different and they evolved separately.

"There are 20 or 30 game shows on TV and many different talk shows, but there are the same genre, not the same programme."

In the UK, Channel 4's version, hosted by Davina McCall, starts in July. In Germany, where the series is still running, one contestant - Zlatko Trpovksi - has already gained his own programme.

A verdict is expected on 7 June.