Consumerism drives demand, and in our digital world it is so easy to be influenced to purchase goods that are currently trending. We all know this is the truth of the world we live in, and we have all been influenced to want those pair of shoes or that bag. Often times, these products are from high-end brands that end up being too expensive for the average consumer. So, we end up looking for more affordable alternatives of these products to fill that hole in our wardrobe.
The alternatives we find may be an item that looks somewhat similar, is a ‘dupe’, or is even sometimes a counterfeited good. Counterfeited goods are sold on the Black Market and pose a serious problem for many brands globally. Counterfeiting is a fraudulent imitation of a well-known and respected brand’s products, and this is a serious crime. Further, it infringes on the intellectual property rights of the brand.
According to the Economist, footwear makes up 20% of counterfeited goods on the Black Market. This number is set to maintain its steady increase after a jump during the Covid-19 Pandemic which caused the e-commerce revolution, because of all the online shopping that we did. It is easier to promote a fake product online because the consumer cannot see the product in front of them nor see the true stamps of authenticity.
This crisis is getting worse due to e-commerce sales increasing on Instagram, Facebook and eBay to name a few. The fact that large brands try to make their work difficult to get a hold of and limit the supply – and automatically increasing the demand, causes counterfeited goods and the Black Market to soar in terms of success. This results in high quality fakes emerging.
In November 2023 Meta and Christian Louboutin filed a joint lawsuit against an individual for promoting the sales of counterfeit Louboutin products from Mexico. He was using digital platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to sell the fakes, which Meta claims violated its Terms of Service and Instagram’s Terms of Use and most importantly, Christian Louboutin’s intellectual property rights. By promoting the sales of counterfeited goods on these digital platforms, the individual used several of Christian Louboutin registered trademarks without authorisation. Trademarks are easily recognizable symbols, words or phrases that identifies a specific product or brand to the average consumer. The relevant infringed trademarks include the “Christian Louboutin” word mark the “Christian Louboutin” and “Louboutin” script signature logo marks and the “Red Sole” logo mark.
This joint movement by Meta and Louboutin has sparked a revolution in the protection of intellectual property on digital platforms, where often the integrity of digital spaces is undermined and damages the reputation of luxury fashion brands. This is one of the many examples of extreme counterfeiting that has taken place due to the e-commerce revolution and the digitalization of our world. It can easily be construed that we need more enforceable rules in this digital era to protect creators and persons with the registered trademarks regarding their works.
This matter has not proceeded further than the above, but is set to continue and without a doubt, Meta and Louboutin will set an amazing precedent for counterfeiting online and the effective enforcement of intellectual property rights in digital spaces.
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