The MICAM fair in Milan has been for a few days the great meeting point of footwear brands from all over the world. That is why Ibidem has been present, accompanying its clients and ensuring the protection of their industrial property. Massimiliano Caforio, director of Ibidem’ s headquarters in Milan and an expert in the sector, assesses in this interview the importance of the legal defense of brands and their designs in a global market to protect themselves from industrial piracy.
The MICAM fair in Milan is one of the most important showcases around the world for footwear market. What would you recommend to participating companies regarding industrial protection?
I would recommend that they acted with major diligence to legally protect their investment pay-offs and efforts in terms of product development, distribution, marketing and communication actions, in order to:
- Be much more competitive in the market
- Avoid being defrauded by competitors, distributors or forgers.
- Establish company’s intangible assets
- Improve considerably company assets
How can Ibidem battle industrial piracy and forgery?
In IBIDEM we battle piracy and forgery with a wide knowledge of real protection necessities and company’s core business. We identify the most effective and economically efficient strategies to implant them in any part of the world. To do so, in Ibidem we count with a highly specialised team, cutting edge technology tools and a close relationship with authorities.
What added value is offered by Ibidem to advise and accompany corporations in the protection of their brand and designs?
IBIDEM offers highly qualified and specialised experts who can intervene in any part of the world, always providing the most adequate legal strategy to the necessities of the company. In terms of legal efficacy and economically efficiency, they contribute to increase their competitiveness and maximize their market value.
For the first time, IBIDEM is present in the MICAM fair with their own office in Milan, which you personally run. What benefits does this fact provide to clients?
The benefit to be in Milan lies on being able to offer legal support immediately with our direct presence in the fair. In these events that just last a couple of days and have enormous exposure for brands, is crucial to achieve concrete results on the fair itself (such as counterfeit product revocation), to avoid great damage even from the point of view of market image.
You also run the new area of Ibidem Lawyers specially dedicated to luxury and fashion brands. What is your proposal on such specific services for the sector?
The services that IBIDEM provides to companies in the fashion and luxury market go beyond traditional tools to protect brands and designs. We apply advanced tools and strategies to protect intellectual property, assistance in contractual matters (licences, distribution contracts, franchises, agency) and market risk consultancy (compliance in the field of competition, antitrust, publicidad, advertising / GDPR, etc.) for offline and online activities (exponential growing market)
Due to your experience in legally advisement to large fashion brands. Nowadays, which strategic priorities have to be pursued regarding legal protection?
Online brand presence has become a key element to companies, with a clear and strong growing tendency, in particular for the fashion industry. Online world implies very different methods and operation times from traditional markets. Being aware of this, IBIDEM has specialised abilities, a dedicated team and cutting edge technology tools to provide an advanced service to battle the growing sells of brand counterfeiting online. We can identify and eliminate third-party use of the brands, domain names and designs (open website, market place, blog, discussion forum and social media).Furthermore, we offer complete assistance in contractual matters (websites, ecommerce and business process digitization in general) and in compliance matters of difficult legal areas (compliance in the field of competition, antitrust, publicidad, advertising / GDPR, etc.) that online employees are obligated to respect in order to avoid unpleasant surprises such as economic sanctions, among other things.
