Knowledge Protection Strategy Of Clothing Industry From ZARA And NIKE

Speaking of ZARA, I believe you are no stranger to it. It is the third ranking clothing dealer in the world.

It is a subsidiary of GAP, Sweden H&M and Denmark KM, the world's top apparel retail group Inditex.

It is both a clothing brand and a chain store brand specializing in ZARA brand clothing. There are more than more than 2000 clothing chains in 87 countries around the world. The top 100 brands in 2019 ranked 29.

The design of avant-garde and price friendly is the biggest competitive advantage of ZARA in the international market. It is also one of the most popular clothing brands of global fashion youth.

In the face of China's 1 billion 400 million consumer market, ZARA certainly will not let go. How did it successfully enter and occupy the Chinese market through the layout of intellectual property rights? Next we will understand the layout of intellectual property through ZARA.

I. ZARA's intellectual property protection strategy

1, the brand layout of ZARA

First, we will find out the status of ZARA's domestic trademark registration through the latest data of the trademark office.

As early as 1994, ZARA made the trademark layout ahead of time in China, and registered trademarks in more than 20 categories: clothing, clothing, bags and derivatives. In the same year, ZARA registered in China "the emperor Connaught textile industry company", has carried on the domestic trademark multi category registration to its series brand "ZARA HOME", "ZARA FOR MUM" and so on, has guaranteed the brand protection integrity.

ZARA is very forward-looking about brand protection, but for patent protection, it is not so good. It is even a negative textbook.

2, ZARA patent dispute case

In 2015, OTB, parent company of Diesel and Marni, told ZARA's parent company Inditex group. Diesel thinks that ZARA plagiarized the design of its jeans and Marni sandals and brought ZARA to court. The lawsuit lasted for three years, and finally the court of Milan decided to infringing ZARA. This is also the first time ZARA has lost the case in such cases.

In a scene like this, ZARA argues that sandals are not exactly the same design, and Diesel jeans are designed to defend themselves against originality. The prosecution said that the appearance of Skinzee-SP jeans has been registered in the European Union, and the manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods by ZARA has violated the EU's intellectual property law.

ZARA's experience tells us that for the original fashion design enterprises with unique design style, the protection of appearance patent is also very important.

3. Patent layout analysis of NIKE

Many people think that it is enough for the clothing industry to do well in trademark protection. Unless special materials are not required for patent protection, because the patent application data of ZARA are not disclosed, the following is a case of patent layout of another international famous brand NIKE, to share with you the patent protection involved in the clothing industry.

(1) according to the data of the State Patent Office, Nike has more than 6700 patents in China and has authorized more than 4300 patents. Obviously, clothes, shoes and cap patents can not only be applied for, but also have more patents.

(2) the proportion of invention is about 66%, utility model accounts for about 10%, and appearance design accounts for about 24%. Clothing, shoes and hat styles can be applied for design patents. The data show that more patents are related to the improvement of the structure of clothing, shoes and hats, including shoe sole structure, shoe structure, antiskid design, anti sweat design, warm design, breathable design, improvement of materials, improvement of manufacturing technology, improvement of processing equipment, etc., which is more suitable for application for invention or utility model patents.

(3) more than 3600 pieces of patent applications have been filed, of which more than 2600 are authorized. Obviously, clothing, shoes and hat products can not only apply for invention, but also show that the authorized rate is not low.

The appearance patent is characterized by its unique appearance and distinct personality. It prevents the design or good works of the master from being plagiarized, prevents counterfeit products from infringement, and ensures that your interests are not infringed.

To sum up, clothing and footwear enterprises should refer to Nike and other enterprises with more mature intellectual property rights, take into consideration their own product characteristics, and work out patent protection strategies with professional patent agencies.

　　 Analysis on the protection of intellectual property rights in garment industry in two and 2019

The protection of intellectual property rights of large brands is relatively comprehensive and perfect, and at the same time, it will give people an unreachable look. For most small and medium-sized enterprises, it is the kingly way to do their best to protect their own intellectual property rights. Now let's see what the majority of garment enterprises have done through the overall protection of the intellectual property rights of the national garment industry in 2019.

1. Trademark application in garment industry

According to preliminary statistics, in the first three quarters of 2019, the top 10 service categories of trademark applications were 3226862, accounting for 55.2% of the total number of applications nationwide, up 4.36% from the same period last year.

Among them (25 categories) clothing shoes and hats ranked fourth, the total amount of 334772, compared with 2018, a 28.77% decline. Although overall quantification has declined, it is still the top five industry category.

According to the 2018 World Intellectual property index issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (IPR), the largest category of trademark applications in the world is (35 categories) advertising sales, accounting for 11% of the total number of applications, followed by (25 categories), clothing shoes and hats accounted for 7%, (09 kinds) scientific instruments accounted for 6.6%, 41 kinds of education and entertainment accounted for 5.5% and (30) convenience food accounted for 4.8%. It can be seen that the categories of trademark applications in China are basically in line with the trend of world industry development. The apparel industry ranks second only to advertising sales in the world, ranking second in trademark protection category.

2, 2019 patent application in garment industry

From the patent pool of the State Intellectual Property Office, according to the patent classification number, data from three sub sectors of clothing, shoes and hats show that in January 1, 2019 -12 22, a total of 8230 patent applications were retrieved, including 4730 clothing, 2582 footwear and 918 hat categories.

From the above three sub sectors of patent classification applications, 3720 patents for invention, 1676 utility models and 3834 patents for design. As shown in the following figure:

The above results show that although the patent applications in the clothing industry are not high, the types of patent applications mainly focus on invention patents and appearance patents. It is proved that most garment enterprises attach great importance to the research and development of fabric, technology and design. If your business has invested much more money and energy in these areas, you must not forget to apply for patent protection.

　　 Three, 2020 clothing industry intellectual property layout

Through the analysis of well-known brands and the overall application of the clothing industry in 2019, I believe you have a preliminary understanding of the layout of the intellectual property in the clothing industry. So how can we conduct the intellectual property rights layout in the new year in light of the actual situation of the enterprises?

1, apply for trademark protection

For clothing enterprises, trademark is the most significant label. It is very important to do a good job in trademark layout. The following is the strategy of trademark protection in the apparel industry summarized by China and the United States. Enterprises can register trademark registration progressively according to their own development.

2. Application for patent protection

According to the stipulation of the patent law, a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application can be applied as a design patent for the combination of the shape, pattern or combination of clothing products, colors and shapes and patterns. Therefore, we can apply for the protection of appearance patent for the practical three-dimensional design and shape design of ready-made garments.

Because the appearance patent needs six months from the application to the authorization, the appearance patent protection can not meet the seasonal trend clothing demand. Therefore, the method of applying for the protection of appearance patent is more suitable for a batch of garments that are produced all the year round and with stable styles. The case like ZARA reminds us that the protection of appearance patents is an indispensable part. Once the product design is embezzled, the design patent can become a magic weapon to crack down on piracy, which will help you recover huge losses.

In addition to the design patent, your shoes and hat products have special features in fabrics, production processes, etc., and you can apply for invention patents for them. If they are improved inventions, you can apply for utility models.

To sum up, the application of patent can make your shoes and hat products play a very important competitive advantage in competition with other brands.

3. Copyright registration protection

In addition to trademark protection and patent protection, for clothing and footwear enterprises, copyright protection can also be applied through special pattern designs used in products. Compared with design patents, copyright protection has the advantages of short application cycle and strong protection of original designs, which can effectively avoid piracy in patterns and colors of products.

Through the analysis of the above three aspects, it is suggested that bosom friends should rationally arrange the scope of intellectual property protection for their own enterprises' development.