Ferrante has recently forged a long term partnership with the Hong Kong Business Report, which is published in the South China Morning Post, Asia's leading English language paper, in a move which is intended to highlight the firm's business development priorities. To start the ball rolling with this project, Michele Ferrante has written an article setting out how the firm uses its expertise to safeguard clients in the luxury sector from the global threat of counterfeiting.

Our firm is aware that China has developed its IP legislation at a faster rate than any other country and we have harnessed this by embracing work that involves new technology and we look forward to the challenges posed by increased reliance on artificial intelligence and how this impacts our client's businesses and brands

We will be using this opportunity to inform the Business Report readership about the positive aspects of IP, which are not always appreciated by successful brands who may only reflect on their IP rights if infringement has occurred. We hope to educate businesses about the strong benefits of a well though through IP strategy, to include a robust anti-counterfeiting strategy, as this will offer them protection against future infringement, by raising their awareness of the ways in which their products are vulnerable to counterfeiting, how to identify it and how to address it if it occurs.

Another important aspect of IP awareness, is educating businesses about the need to register their rights and the potential value of the IP portfolio that they hold. IP rights have been acquired as a result of hard work and creativity, which often goes unrewarded. This is because their true value has not been appreciated. For example, a brand initially obtains the appropriate registration for its trademarks or patents, at a low financial output, thereby creating an IP portfolio. The business may not be aware that these rights can be made subject to lucrative licence agreements which will vastly increase the worth of the IP rights in question and the overall value of their overall IP portfolio, which can yield substantial returns. That portfolio needs to be protected and this is undertaken by an anti-counterfeiting strategy which has been devised for the individual business in question.

Our experience in the IP business and our passion for IP generally, has put us in a good position to demonstrate how IP has been changing over the past decade and to make suggestions for improvement. This project presents an exciting opportunity for us all at Ferrante and it will highlight the ways in which we are moving forward to embrace future challenges.

Link to the Business Report article:
http://www.scmp.com/business-reports/country-reports/topics/hong-kong-business- report/article/3222418/ferrante-intellectual-property-expertly-safeguards-clients- counterfeiting  (English)
Link to the Business Report article: http://www.scmp.com/topics/hong-kong-business-report  (English)