Recently, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton accused the owner of a hair salon in Hong Kong for infringing its trademark as chairs covered in its trademarked check pattern are found in the salon. Louis Vuitton demanded a published apology and payment of HK$25, 000 in damages. This news has aroused my interest in looking at the importance of trademark for branding.

A trademark is a recognized sign, design, or expression, which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others. Some products have higher prices than the others not only because they have better quality, but also a recognizable trademark. Many products provide the same functions. However, some companies are able to charge higher prices than the others because they have a well-established trademark. Consumers are willing to pay larger amount of money to buy those companies’ products because they help them to convey higher social status and prestige. Therefore, a good trademark is definitely a strong asset for companies to generate huge profits and companies should target consumers who value famous brands to identify themselves by establishing a unique and recognizable trademark.

It is understandable that Louis Vuitton wants to reserve the right in using its trademark as large amount of money is spent on establishing its brand by creating the famous and well-known check pattern. However, in my opinion, Louis Vuitton should not request for such huge sum of compensation from small-business owner since people might think that it is an act of bullying. And this might cause damage to the reputation of the company. Moreover, the owner actually did not aware that he was infringing the trademark and I think it is more important to educate the people of property intellectual rather than penalizing them with severe fines.