Louis Vuitton
PROTECTING THE BRAND TO PRESERVE CREATION
The fight against counterfeiting is a long-term element of Louis Vuitton’s worldwide sustainability strategy. Preserving the creativity and the rights of designers, artists and brands is vital to their long-term survival. One of the biggest threats to that survival today is counterfeiting, whose effects go far beyond buying a cheap bag on a street in a faraway city while on holiday.
Following its respect for creativity and protection of intellectual property, Louis Vuitton has a zero tolerance policy to counterfeiting. Counterfeiting is the violation of the talent, the skills of the craftsmen and the creativity of the artists to whom Louis Vuitton owes its success. The robbery of intellectual property rights undermines the investment and knowledge made to develop the company. Counterfeiting further damages communities with uncontrolled and dangerous working conditions and abuse of human rights such as under-aged and forced labour. A high price sits behind the purchase of a cheap fake bag.
Louis Vuitton has faced counterfeiting since the earliest days of its success. The highly distinctive Monogram canvas was created in 1896 by Georges Vuitton, in an effort to deter imitators who were attracted by the brand’s success and its world-class status. As the premier global luxury brand, Louis Vuitton continues to be a target of counterfeiters around the world today.
The sale of counterfeit goods is a serious offense whose revenue funds criminal organisations at the expense of consumers, companies and governments. It calls for the responsible behaviour of all economic actors, in particular consumers notably on the Internet, now a favoured platform for counterfeit sellers.
Louis Vuitton supports awareness-raising campaigns. In 2008, Louis Vuitton and Brooklyn Museum under the direction of curator Arnold Lehman staged a special performance during the © Murakami exhibition to highlight Louis Vuitton’s commitment to preserve creativity from counterfeiting. Actors portraying street vendors were questioning the public by selling authentic Louis Vuitton products and canvasses designed by Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton’s Intellectual Property Department is managing over 11,500 intellectual property rights including trademarks, designs and copyrights with the support of 250 agents around the world. Thanks to this fully-dedicated team of lawyers and former law enforcement professionals based in Paris with regional offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Milan, Dubai, New York and Buenos Aires, thousands of anti-counterfeiting raids are performed each year. In 2009, Louis Vuitton initiated 9,489 raids (39 per day) and 26,843 anti-counterfeiting procedures worldwide, resulting in the seizure of thousands of counterfeit products and the break- up of criminal networks, easing the plight of workers working for illegal organisations. The Internet division of the Intellectual Property Department registers domain names, fights cyber squatting and tracks counterfeiting online by monitoring the Internet, in particular search engines and market places. As a result, more than 430 litigious websites were shut down in 2009.
In 2003, Louis Vuitton has pioneered the use of the “contributory liability principle” to fight counterfeiting targeting “intermediaries” such as landlords, courier companies and payment facilities providing services to underground counterfeit networks. This programme has been very effective in certain counterfeiting hotspots like New York’s Canal Street.
The fight against counterfeiting is a long-term battle. Louis Vuitton is more determined than ever to preserve creativity in protecting its brand in the interest of its customers, its employees and those who suffer at the hands of the counterfeiting industry.
The authenticity of Louis Vuitton products is guaranteed in Louis Vuitton’s exclusive distribution network. Louis Vuitton products are only sold in Louis Vuitton stores, which are owned and staffed by Louis Vuitton, and through the Louis Vuitton’s official website: www.louisvuitton.com.
FACTS AND FIGURES
• On March 20, 2009, the Guardia di Finanza seized nearly 140,000 counterfeit Louis Vuitton scarves and 12,000 metres of fake fabric in a shop in Milan (Italy).
• On April 23, 2009 cooperation with local authorities targeted four factories and three warehouses in Gyeonggi Province, Korea; leading to the seizure of around 900,000 counterfeit components and the arrest of five people.
• In May 2009, customs authorities in the port of Piraeus (Athens) seized over 49,000 Louis Vuitton counterfeits from containers arriving from China and Malaysia.
• On June 3, 2009, almost 40,000 Louis Vuitton counterfeits were seized from two trucks headed towards the port of Ningbo with the help of local authorities in Guangzhou (China).
• On August 6, 2009, 16 machine tools used to make Louis Vuitton fake bags and 350 metres of counterfeit fabric seized from an illegal workshop in Asunción, Paraguay were destroyed.
• On August 28, 2009, the Northern District of California jury in San José, California, awarded Louis Vuitton $32.4 million in damages in a civil action filed against which had hosted over 200 Chinese websites selling counterfeit goods.
• In September 16, 2009, over 1.300 illegal CDs and DVDs bearing the LV Logo and artwork imitating the Damier canvas were destroyed in Ho Chi Min City (Vietnam).
• On October 6, 2009, police seized 31,785 Louis Vuitton fake leather goods in Kyungki-Do (Philippines). The owner of the workshop and warehouse raided had been using sophisticated machinery and the help of professional technicians to manufacture thousands of Louis Vuitton imitations for the Korean, Japanese and Chinese counterfeit markets.
• On October 20, 2009, arrest warrants were issued for the two owners of the website yeslouisvuitton.com following the seizure of 200 Louis Vuitton counterfeits by police in Guangzhou (China). This illicit website was hosted by Managed Solutions Group, one of the two companies previously prosecuted in California in August 2009.
• On October 30, 2009, 9,271 Louis Vuitton bags and 500m2 of counterfeit LV fabric were seized by the Guardia di Finanza from three workshops in Florence (Italy). In a parallel raid in Prato, local authorities seized 20,000m2 of fake Louis Vuitton fabric. These operations generated media attention due to the unhealthy conditions of these workshops where around twenty clandestine Chinese immigrants and their families lived and worked, including toddlers aged between three and five years.
• On December 4, 2009, Yahoo! Japan and Louis Vuitton signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing guidelines for their close cooperation in the fight against the online sale of counterfeit goods on Yahoo! Auction.
About
Louis Vuitton
The world leader in luxury, Louis Vuitton has been synonymous with the art of stylish travel since 1854. Since 1997, with the arrival of the designer Marc Jacobs, it has extended its expertise to women's and men's ready-to-wear, shoes, watches and jewellery, combining traditional craftsmanship with flair and innovation to create a complete lifestyle experience. Since 1987, it has been part of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's foremost luxury goods group.
