It seems that the weaker, post-referendum pound sterling might not be all bad news for Britain. It was recently reported that London’s heritage is thought to be particularly appealing to Chinese consumers, as the numbers of tourists from China are on the increase and providing a significant boost to the total luxury spend in London. Indeed, 2016 saw London’s reputation as a luxury retail hotspot continue to blossom with the opening of 41 new luxury brand stores – the highest number in any city that year. Fifteen of those were for luxury brands opening their first ever store in the UK, demonstrating the apparent confidence of these brands in the strength of the UK’s luxury retail sector, despite the recent vote for Brexit.
London provides an ideal stepping stone for luxury brands looking to expand from European markets into the US and vice versa. Not only does this make the UK a key jurisdiction in which brands should obtain trade mark protection but it also renders it potentially a more attractive target market for counterfeit goods by rogue traders. Luxury brand owners are therefore encouraged to implement holistic and comprehensive anti-counterfeiting initiatives to deter such illegal activity and to prevent these goods entering the supply chain and reaching consumers in the UK.
For more advice on UK trade mark protection or anti-counterfeiting initiatives, please contact the team at Stobbs.
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