"Much like the fear of online retail, there has been an influx in intellectual properties of brands. A new report by TrademarkNow suggests, the industry has seen a major spurt in luxury goods-related intellectual property (IP) protection. The report says top five clothing, apparel & luxury goods companies applied for more than 6,400 marks around the world in 2016, and a more globally diversified playing field – both in terms of competition and in companies' vies for IP protection."

Much like the fear of online retail, there has been an influx in intellectual properties of brands. A new report by TrademarkNow suggests, the industry has seen a major spurt in luxury goods-related intellectual property (IP) protection. The report says top five clothing, apparel & luxury goods companies applied for more than 6,400 marks around the world in 2016, and a more globally diversified playing field – both in terms of competition and in companies' vies for IP protection.

The report titled ‘Trademarks, Now: Trademark Industry Review Q1 2017’ says, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE; Victoria’s Secret’s parent company L Brand Inc.; VF Corporation (which owns Wrangler and Lee, Timberland, Nautica sportswear, and The North Face); Gucci, Balenciaga, and YSL’s parent Kering; and Richemont, which owns Cartier, Chloe, and Alaia, top the list of most active trademark-filers, in terms of luxury goods and apparel brands. LVMH’s direct competitor, Kering, which took a luxury goods ranking of No. 4 and an overall ranking of No. 54, applied for over 800 new trademarks around the world in 2016 – a little less than it did in 2015 (when it filed more than 1,200). Leather goods and jewelry were Kering’s top product classes in 2016, with fragrances taking a backseat.

Cosmetics dominance

Cosmetics-related trademarks continued to dominate in 2016. Accordingly, while the top five companies in the clothing, apparel & luxury goods space obviously have varied areas of focus in terms of products, leather goods (trademark class 18) registered consistent growth in trademark applications over the past five years among these companies. Cosmetics (Class 3) and jewelry, while still a larger fraction of the total product mix, have had a flatter growth in trademark filings.

Of all the companies survey by TrademarkNow, the largest-volume trademark classes in 2016 were those within the always-busy broad business-oriented categories (e.g., advertising & business; research & development), and the prominent technology/ media/telecom categories (electrical & scientific devices; education & entertainment). Clothing and pharmaceuticals & medical supplies also placed near the top.

China leads the pack

China took the top spot in terms of trademark filing activity. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) in Beijing accepted 3.7 million trademark applications during the year, a 29 per cent increase over 2015 and more than seven times the filing volume of the second-busiest trademark office, the US Patent and Trademark Office. Following China and the US was India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, European Union, Turkey, France, and Australia respectively.

Global companies counting

LG Electronics was second in portfolio growth, with over 3,600 filings; Time Warner was third, with over 3,500. Pharmaceuticals and medical devices conglomerate Johnson & Johnson and global cosmetics company L’Oreal rounded out the top five. As noted, LVMH took the number 12 spot (filing 2,100 applications, an increase of 4 per cent compared to 2015), Victoria’s Secret’s parent company L Brand Inc. took the no. 45 placement (filing 922 applications, an increase of 60 per cent), and VF Corporation came in at number 49 (filing 840 applications, down by 91 per cent).

Apple was at number 15 (filing 1,800 applications, down by 62 per cent), Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba at number 18 (filing 1,700 applications, down by 95 per cent), Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido at number 31 (filing 1,300 applications, down by 94 per cent), Abercrombie & Fitch Co at number 42 (filing 973 applications, a 5 per cent increase), and Amazon at number 50 (filing 837 applications, an increase of 15 per cent). A key fact that has emerged from the study is that there has been an exponential growth in the trademarked brands within the newly-industrialised economies.