Author: Janaina Lage

Source: Folha de S. Paulo, 08/01/2008

Rio de Janeiro - The counterfeiting of products results in losses of around R $ 6 billion per year for the fashion industry, according to calculations by Abravest (Brazilian Apparel Association).

According to the president of the association, Roberto Chadad, in addition to the entry of counterfeit Chinese products, the sector suffers from the increased presence of counterfeit products from neighboring countries, especially from Paraguay.

To reduce the effects of piracy, the sector intends to create a stamp to standardize labels, measures and washes of the pieces. The idea is to combat the entry of counterfeit products through technical standards. "The seal can become an important technical barrier," he said.

According to experts, if, on the one hand, the sector suffers from the proliferation of copies and the consequent closing of jobs, on the other, it still needs to modernize management and be more concerned with product protection .

According to the Inpi (National Institute of Industrial Property), the demand for trademark registration and product design is still lower in the textile sector than in the footwear sector. The institute participates in Fashion Business (8 to 11 January), a business event in parallel to Fashion Rio.

The institute points out that the percentage of innovation in the textile industry is still low. According to data from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), only 28% of clothing and footwear companies invest in news.

“The sector still needs to distinguish what should or should not be protected by registration. Registering any type of model prevents it from becoming popular and falling in the public's taste, but when it comes to an exclusive, innovative design, it is worth registering, ”said Suzana Guimarães, industrial design coordinator at Inpi. The industrial design registration process takes three to six months.

Asked about the feasibility of registering a product that can be left out in the next season, Guimarà £ es argues that, although the fashion changes every season, some models tend to return at different times.

“Who would have imagined that the van would last for decades? If the product is registered, it has protection guaranteed for 25 years ”, he said.

The main advantage of registration, according to Guimarà £ es, is conferring a higher market price for the product. She mentions Grendene, who achieved differentiated value for making plastic sandals by registering partnerships with other designers, such as Campana brothers, stylist Alexandre Herchcovitch and plastic artist Romero Britto .

According to the institute, in the textile sector, 47% of innovative companies say that differentiated products represent more than 40% of sales.

Guimarà £ es said that, at the moment when Brazilian fashion starts to expand abroad, with the acquisition of brands such as those of the designer Alexandre Herchcovitch, registration in each country is the only way to avoid copies of products.