Fashion Industry And Challenges For IP Protection

The fashion industry is an emerging sector in the world with a market capitalization of more than 500 Billion Dollars worldwide. For this sector, the key factor is the innovation and the new idea that keep on coming every day. It is these innovations that keep this sector vigilant about their rights, especially their IP rights. The creation and marketing of the products take its recourse through IP protection. But often the protection seems to be in vain due to less effective checks and balances. The smaller and local sector is more neglected in protecting their intellectual assets; thereby we see infringed and pirated materials in the market, confusing the consumers.

The IP law faces many challenges in this sector with regards to the protection offered and its effective enforcement. IP law protects materials through  copyright,  trademark, and even to some extent patents, if the applicant can prove that the invention is novel and non-obvious and constitutes