Intellectual property rights in the fashion industry

Trademark searching, trademark registrations, enforcing copyright law and other IP portfolio management services can become costly for a fashion house, especially when they do not have an internal legal team and most or all of these services are carried out by multiple external providers.

Many small and medium-sized fashion houses find the associated costs of these services prohibitive for their business. In these cases, an end-to-end solution can provide optimal support for a brand, even with a low budget.

Name creation is one of the most challenging parts of IP management for a fashion house. This is mainly due to the evolving nature of the fashion industry. New fashion lines are created every season, which include many new design assets requiring evocative and memorable names. This may also include newly designed textile patterns and materials. Working with a partner that can assist with name creation can save your business time and money while also ensuring that your designs are market-ready.

The names associated with fashion designs can remain with them for years, even decades, especially in high fashion. For example, the Hermès Birkin Bag, one of the most renowned handbags in the world, is easily identified by its name and design. This iconic fashion item has also faced challenges regarding its name; however, it has remained one of the most recognised fashion accessory names since it was created in 1984.

Working with an IP specialist to create unique names adds value to your designs. It distinguishes those items in the market and makes your visual designs shareable and identifiable. By using trademark searching and name creation services, you can ensure that your name is unique, relevant and protected through copyright law.

Trademark searching can be an expensive task for a fashion house. It requires access to comprehensive databases as well as a legal team to determine your requirements and filter the results. Working with a global specialist can help to tackle both of these issues. It is best to choose a provider that can cover global trademark searches with country-specific detail to ensure that your fashion brand is adequately protected in your target markets. It is also advisable to work with a provider that allows for different options to control costs, so you don’t overspend for extensive services that your business does not require. They should be able to provide different trademark searching options based on the level of customisation you need.

Whether you are a small, medium or large fashion house, your brand is the most valuable part of your business. Customers will associate your brand with specific styles, quality and experiences. Many fashion houses invest considerable time and money to build a relationship with their customers through their brand. However, if the brand is not protected through trademark filing and enforcement, customers may be able to find the same styles, quality and even experiences elsewhere, which can have a detrimental effect on your bottom line.

For this reason, it is vital to ensure that a fashion house can protect its branding through trademark and design registration and associated assets through copyright law. This reduces the risk of others borrowing or stealing from your brand or using it for other malicious purposes. It also provides legal standing to pursue cases where copyright infringement has taken place. The most distinguishing features that a fashion house should protect through trademarks are its brand name and logo as these are the most identifiable IP assets for a brand, whether it is a high-fashion brand or a high-street brand.

Fashion brands may design logo patterns and textile prints, which are also distinctly associated with the brand. These can also be protected as trademarks to prevent others from using your patterns or prints on their products without your permission. Additionally, protecting the artful designs of a fashion house from copyright infringement has a direct impact on its brand value and revenue. If you need to protect a custom textile print, a new fabric composition or the three-dimensional aspects of a unique shape, registering your IP can add value to your business; it enables you to choose whether you want to prevent others from using your asset or if you want to license that asset for additional revenue.

When a fashion house invents a new material or designs a new product, the protection of that asset directly impacts on its revenue. If a brand requires an invention patent for a new material, this can include the finished product, the composition of the material, the machine used to make the material, the process for making the material, or even an improvement on any of these aspects that already exist. This ensures that others cannot make, sell or use your invention without your permission. In this way, a fashion house can also leverage its inventions by licensing them for a greater return on investment.

The addition of new industrial designs to a fashion line can also be patent protected. This refers to any product that has distinctive visual features, including the shape, composition, pattern or adornment of other elements as well as a combination of any of these features. A patent may also include the unique elements used to create the design, such as the materials, machinery and process.

Fashion brands may also carry an extensive selection of products, designs and other assets that are patentable, which extend beyond traditional items, such as clothing, shoes and accessories. For example, many brands have developed fragrances, cosmetics, homewares and other lifestyle products that are also patentable. It is important to consult with a patent specialist to ensure that your business is patenting and leveraging all potential IP assets in its catalogue as well as the unique materials, compositions, machinery and processes used to make them.

In some cases, fashion houses will have products that require long-term protection and more seasonal products that require a shorter term of protection. Consulting with a patent specialist will help you understand how to protect each of these product types, so your designs and innovations have adequate protection without incurring unnecessary costs.