Long live NFTs

Magi Franceschelli hosted a fascinating and expert discussion along with Ghada Qaisi Audi (Chief Business Development Officer and Co-Chief Legal Officer at Taro Ishida), highlighting the risks and opportunities posed by NFTs to luxury brands. On the risk side, a particularly interesting and thorny legal issue is the application of exhaustion principles to the secondary market for NFTs and how far brand owners can go to prevent secondary trade. And on value, the panel explored how use of NFTs in a phygital sense can add value both to the consumer and the brand owner, for example as a tool to guarantee authenticity and provide access to exclusive digital material to the consumer. NFTs were not just a 2022 fad – they are here to stay and if used properly, have the potential to add real value for brands.

Weathering the storm - luxury brands in a challenging economic environment

The panellists for this session, which included Marianne Helps, Senior Counsel at Burberry, discussed how luxury brands are adapting their business models to weather the current economic storm. Interesting to note was the consensus that luxury brands are fairly recession proof, in large part because their consumer base is less affected by the pressures of inflation. That said, businesses are still making changes to adapt to the current economic climate, this includes bringing more production in-house to have greater control over their supply chains and focussing on hard luxury goods, such as watches, jewelry, and leather goods.

Trademark pirates in China – a sea change?

Georgina McManus, Chief Legal Officer at Manolo Blahnik, explained how sheer grit, determination, and a policy change in China’s approach to protection of international brands contributed to a landmark win in a 20 year dispute with a trademark pirate over his registration of MANOLO BLAHNIK in China. Manolo Blahnik succeeded on the basis of its earlier rights in its name and so the court did not consider the bad faith claim. However, the Manolo Blahnik team noted evidence of the pirate’s nefarious behavior in other areas influenced the court’s decision, along with a shift in policy towards the protection of international brands in China. This victory offers a ray of hope for other luxury brands who find themselves in a similar situation. In addition, the length and expense of this dispute provides a salutary lesson to register key brands in “first-to-file” China as quickly as you can.

In-house counsel – not just a business partner but part of the business

Abbi Hunt, General Counsel and Paul Smith, VP Legal at Belmond (luxury hotels) hosted a refreshing and enthusiastic discussion about their roles as in-house counsel, where they position themselves very much as part of the business, and as facilitators, not nay-sayers. It was particularly interesting to see how the team incorporated Belmond branding into their legal guidance to reinforce this integration with the business and the Simms-like compliance training tool they had created, which is designed around a walk-through of a Belmond hotel. All of this lead to the team winning a well-deserved “Legal Team of the Year.”

Authored by Emily Sharkey.