Counterfeiting in the fashion industry costs billion dollars annually in the Asian as well as European markets. Admittedly, the number is too high to be ignored. In order to fight effectively against counterfeiting, numerous fashion and luxury companies have developed various strategies themselves to safeguard their businesses.
How Fashion Brands Fight Back
Product authentication techniques are the common measures for some fashion brands to protect its products. Many brands use authentication devices on their products. For instance, Levi’s is seeking a new type of labeling technology to help prove its product authenticity. Another denim brand, True Religion Apparel Inc. is using a security device into each pair of its jeans.
For some luxury brands, lawsuits are often used to fight against the development and retailing of fake products. In 2013, Richemont-owned Cartier’s recent triumph with a trademark infringement lawsuit against China-based companies signaled that luxury marketers should not ignore threats to brand equity in the country and send a message of deterrence to counterfeiters (see story).
Kering, along with its brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, filed the lawsuit in a U.S. district court in New York May 15, stating that the online retailer has been allowing and possibly encouraging, the sale of knock-off goods for profits. The group filed a similar suit against Alibaba in 2014 but soon dropped the case when the ecommerce player agreed to implement strategies to avoid the sale of counterfeits on its site (see story).
LVMH employs large teams of in-house and private practice lawyers to monitor, scrutinize and police the wholesale and retail markets, online and offline. In-house lawyers of these luxury groups set a customized anti-counterfeiting strategy for each brand in their portfolio, are in close contact with their external legal advisers, enforcement officers and customs officials, with whom they work directly in order to organize “raids” to seize and confiscate counterfeits, and in order to assess the progress of the fight against counterfeiting.
To see the full version of the blog, click below.