Luxury brands ‘under estimating’ digital IP threat, report says

UK-based luxury brands are under estimating the threat posed by online counterfeiters, a report by law firm Taylor Wessing has shown.

The report, called "The Luxury Barometer", and published today, April 21, presents a “snapshot” of business owners' outlook in the luxury brand sector for the year ahead.

In the report, more than 250 UK-based business managers were polled on their perceptions of what could drive growth, potential investment areas, and business risks.

But the majority of those surveyed under estimated brand protection online, the report found.

According to the report, despite the threats of cybercrime and counterfeiting, the threat to IP was largely overlooked. When asked what the top challenges were to the growth of their business only 2% of those surveyed mentioned IP or trademark protection while less than 8% mentioned data security or cybercrime.

Jason Rawkins, partner at Taylor Wessing, said: “Businesses will need to adjust to the pace of change in the digital world, take steps to protect the integrity of their brands and also, on a practical level, they must fully replicate the luxury in-store experience in order to be successful online.”