Household names, such as Topshop and Debenhams, have closed their doors forever.  The attraction to visit stores is vanishing, but e-commerce thrives.

Online retailers are transforming consumer experiences.  Consumers can shop at their convenience and, by utilising data to personalise the shopping experience, on-line businesses are building their consumer following in ways that retail businesses have struggled to do.  The try before you buy mentality may have given traditional stores an edge in the past but with the introduction of buy now pay later apps such as Klarna, on-line clothing rental and the popularity of e-marketplaces encouraging circular fashion; e‑commerce really is stealing the throne from the high street to become the new star. 

Recent retail acquisitions show there is still some magic left around retail fashion brands.  Fast fashion group Boohoo came to Debenhams’ rescue, but cherry picked the intellectual property.  Boohoo acquired Debenham’s website, 800 trade mark registrations and customer data.  Asos also swooped for Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge, paying £265 million for their brands and other IP. 

These knights in shining armour have emphasised the beauty and value retained in IP, meaning that even where the sparkle has left the building for a retail business, its brands can still go to the ball. 

To protect, enhance and make your brand irresistible as the retail industry evolves, consider carefully:

• Have you got trade mark protection in place for your logo and brand name?  Trade mark registration will prevent third parties using your name and logo and protect your brand’s reputation.
• Make sure your trade mark covers all your goods and services.
• E-commerce extends your reach to new countries.  Do your trade mark registrations cover all these territories? 
• Are you keeping up to date?  If you don’t use a trade mark in its registered form or pay the renewal fees on time, then you could lose it. 
• Remain vigilant to anyone infringing your trade mark or any counterfeiting.  There are processes in place to help with this. 

Please get in touch if you have any questions around protecting your brand, trademarks, or taking your brand online.