The Price of Brand Recognition
For luxury goods manufacturers, this is not a matter of aesthetics but of economics, writes FashionNetwork. According to Brand Finance, the Louis Vuitton brand is valued at more than $32 billion, while Nike is valued at nearly $30 billion. The primary value is created not by production capacity, but by intangible assets—reputation, brand recognition, and consumer trust. It is these factors that enable companies to sell products at a high premium and maintain customer loyalty even during periods of economic instability. Therefore, protecting a brand’s visual identity has long ceased to be the sole responsibility of lawyers and has become an integral part of business strategy.
From Fighting Counterfeits to Fighting for Associations
The last week of July provided a telling example of this trend.
In the U.S., the 7-Eleven retail chain filed a lawsuit against Nike, claiming that the new version of the Air Max 95 uses the company’s signature color palette—a combination of orange, green, and red—as well as visual elements likely to evoke associations with the brand among consumers. Following the filing of the lawsuit, the model was removed from the SNKRS platform.
Almost simultaneously, Louis Vuitton secured a major victory in China. A court in Suzhou ordered the Molly Tea café chain to pay 10.3 million yuan for using a logo featuring a four-petaled flower, which was deemed similar to one of the elements of the LV Monogram. At the same time, the French fashion house continues to work through China’s National Intellectual Property Administration to block the registration of similar trademarks, demonstrating just how systematic brand protection has become in one of the world’s key markets.
At first glance, these processes appear unrelated. However, they all reflect a fundamental shift in the rules of the game. Whereas counterfeiting used to be the main target of the fight, today companies are protecting consumers’ very memories—the visual codes shaped by decades of advertising campaigns, marketing investments, and cultural influence. That is precisely why a combination of three colors or a stylized flower can be worth billions of dollars.
Winning in court does not mean winning in the marketplace
This trend is particularly noticeable in China, which has become not only the largest market for luxury goods but also one of the world’s most important arenas for intellectual property protection. At the same time, leading fashion houses understand that winning a court case alone is not enough. They are simultaneously investing in their cultural presence: Fendi was the first to hold a fashion show on the Great Wall of China, Louis Vuitton opened a restaurant in Chengdu and The Louis space in Shanghai, while Dior, Chanel, and Prada are focusing on exhibitions, educational projects, and collaborations with Chinese cultural institutions.
The Molly Tea case demonstrated that even a convincing legal victory does not always translate into a victory in public opinion. In the age of social media, reputational risks can prove to be just as significant as court rulings.
For the global fashion industry, this signifies a shift in the very nature of competition. A product can be replicated, technology can be copied, and a fashion trend can be reproduced in a single season. It is far more difficult to create a visual code that becomes ingrained in the minds of millions of consumers for decades. It is precisely for the right to own this code that one of the most expensive battles in global business is currently being waged.
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