Corporate Anti-Counterfeit Initiatives: An Examination of Louis Vuitton

Communication in businesse100

  Assessment: Critical essay

 Company: Louis Vuitton

 Essay Title: Corporate Anti-counterfeit Initiatives:

           An examination of Louis Vuitton

 Student Name: Siyu Cao

 Student Number: 16799611

 Email Address: adventurelucy@gmail.com

 Tutor’s Name: Annette Watkins

 Tutorial day and time: Wednesday, 10:00 am

 Semester/Campus Details: Semester 1,2013-Bentley

 (words count: 1573)

Corporate Anti-counterfeit Initiatives:

An examination of Louis Vuitton

Anti-counterfeit is currently one of the most pressing social issues especially for the sake of those luxury brands. The behaviour of Counterfeit in business domain refers to the exact logo of a brand is stolen by another profit-making firm illegally, as a consequence, not only the remuneration for designers who deserve to get on the basis of their masterpiece is been undermined, but also negative impact is posed to the economic order. There is a number that tells how much money is being made from purchasing counterfeits, though the actual one is not known, there is an estimated number that is pretty crucial. It is thought to be around $75 billion every year (Karlie Morris, 2012). Even though there is a law that states making counterfeit bags is illegal it still doesn’t work when people are not punished for their actions. There are several cases that indicate this, one being a case against a company selling counterfeit is Louis Vuitton. 

Louis Vuitton has been named the world's most valuable luxury brand for a seventh consecutive year, following a study conducted by global research brand Millward Brown Optimor and based on an analysis of company performance, as well as consumer interviews. (Vogue,2012)The proliferation of luxury brands also appeal the attention of counterfeiting vendors, who brought lots of fake products into market then make illegal profit from them, which has bought a extremely negative effect to society and the corporation stakeholders. This essay critique the initiative of LV to crack down on counterfeit, as well as examining and analysis the impacts that these aspects have had on society and LV’s stakeholders.

The case for Louis Vuitton

Anti-counterfeit initiatives is what Louis Vuitton insist and have to do these years. Counterfeiting is a $600 billion dollar industry, according to International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, accounting for 7% of world trade, (Forbes, 2010)

Which extremely infringe the profits of companies. As the victim of that, Louis Vuitton has sued both eBay and Google for selling knock-offs in the past years. Yves Carcelle, the chairman & CEO of Louis Vuitton, stated that, it’s not really about money lost, it’s about protecting a brand. (Forbes,2010) The problem with counterfeiting is that it destroys the corporation’s image .A lot of study show that brand lovers are always at risk one day to see somebody carrying an ugly counterfeit and then say “I don’t love them anymore. They betrayed me”.

The case of Google VS Louis Vuitton is one of the most well-known initiatives to crack down on the counterfeit and protect trade mark，which happened in 2010. It concerns the way in which Google sells keywords as links to websites. Advertisers are allowed to select keywords by Google. And the advertiser's website will appear as a "sponsored link" at the top of the search results when the keyword is ultimately entered by a user of Google. When a user subsequently clicks on that sponsored link, a fee would be payable by the advertiser to Google.

If the advertiser want to improve the ranking of website page , they would pay more for the use of the keyword. Louis Vuitton complained that third parties were paying for keywords that were trademarks of Louis Vuitton. In addition,an advertiser could "buy" the right to use such a keyword in combination with the word "imitation" or "copy" so that they could be directed to a website that was selling counterfeit goods, including the replica of Louis Vuitton. Hence Louis Vuitton complained to a French court that Google was infringing its trademarks. (Dai Davis, 2010)

Finally，the European court of justice ruled in favour of Google in a long-running court battle with Louis Vuitton over the use of the luxury goods company's trademarked brand names in searching advertising. The ECJ state that, advertisers themselves, cannot by using such keywords, arrange for Google to display ad. which do not allow internet users to easily establish from which undertaking the goods or services covered. Google , however, has not violated trademark law by allowing advertisers to purchase keywords corresponding to their competitors' trademarks.

Pierre Gode, senior executive vice president at LVMH highlighted this decision represents a critical step towards the clarification of the rules governing online advertising, of which LVMH is one of the foremost clients. (Mark Sweney, 2010) As the world's leading luxury group, with more brands actively engaged with the internet than any other luxury company, Louis Vuitton are committed to working with all parties, including Google, to eradicate illegal online actions and to promote a framework that fosters the continued growth of the digital economy.

Another interesting thing about cracking down on counterfeit goods is about Monogramouflage collection hold by Louis Vuitton at the Brooklyn museum , which featuring luggage, handbags, small leather goods, costume jewelry and ready-to-wear. While, when you walk out, the street outside the museum, LV was setting up 10 New York-style street vendors ,not to sell fakes, but rather authentic Louis Vuitton product and special Monogramouflage canvases that created by Murakami specifically for the exhibition. (Wendy Lam, 2008) It would be funny if pedestrian or tourists get tricked and think they’re buying a good-quality fakes. It seems like a joke to illicit vendors and a creative irony.