How long have you been with the company?
I have been at Hugo Boss since 2000. This was right after the relevant law exams in Germany. In 2005, I was promoted to general counsel. This is not an ordinary lawyer’s job as you are facing every day new matters to look into and the diversity is enormous.
Tell me a little about the history of the brand.
The company was established in the 1920s in Metzingen, Germany by the founder Ferdinand Hugo Boss. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the grandchildren of the founder joined the company and gave it a new impulse. In 1970 they started to export the collections to Austria, Switzerland and Great Britain. The company at that time produced only menswear collections under the brand BOSS HUGO BOSS. In 1985 the company was transformed into a public company and the distribution network was broadened to a worldwide system. In 1993 the first collection under the brand HUGO HUGO BOSS was introduced. Womenswear collections were presented under HUGO HUGO BOSS for the first time in 1998 and under BOSS HUGO BOSS in 2000. In 2006 BOSS HUGO BOSS introduced the premium line BOSS SELECTION for men.
How has the brand changed since you’ve been there?
There have been some changes since I started. The appearance of the brand BOSS HUGO BOSS has changed as it has been focused on the lines BOSS SELECTION, BOSS BLACK, BOSS ORANGE and BOSS GREEN. The brand HUGO HUGO BOSS is a completely separate brand. Counterfeits and trademark oppositions increased in the last few years mainly for the trademark BOSS. Furthermore the trademark portfolio itself had to be protected and carefully reviewed under all the new possibilities, for example EU registered designs. One of the challenges is the protection of the trademarks BOSS or HUGO as the word HUGO is a first name in Spanish and BOSS means chief or director, so the single words make it difficult to register. But nevertheless BOSS is recognized as a famous trademark in class 25 in China.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the brand?
The strength lies in our collection and its diversity and quality. I really think the products are our strength. Everybody can find something to wear under the HUGO BOSS brands. From a legal point of view the weakness might be as described before that BOSS as a trademark is not the easiest one to protect.
How many trademark registrations do you have?
It depends how you count the International and European registrations. All in all we have approximately 16,900 trademarks registered.
How many countries do you protect the trademarks in?
We protect our trademarks all over the world; wherever it is possible we file registrations. Most of our budget has been spent in the last two years to renew all our trademark registrations as we registered our marks really long ago. The last exotic registration I had on my desk was for Myanmar.
Do you use design rights to protect brands, packaging etc?
Yes, we do use design rights, mainly for our leather products such as bags or wallets and shoes. This is having an impact and we can see the success, especially for the creative department, as they see that the value of their work is not being underestimated.
What has been the most challenging aspect in maintaining your band in today’s global environment?
The most challenging aspect for sure is our work against counterfeiters especially in China and Asia. We are focusing on this region as we want to stop the production of the counterfeits by carrying out private investigations in factories to track down the sources. Especially jeans, shirts, ties and wallets are copied. Besides this we have applications for seizures with nearly all Customs worldwide. The number of seizures at the Customs has been increasing as Customs is really alert when it comes to counterfeits. Another challenge is to renew and protect the trademark portfolio.
What do you like most about working in trademarks?
That is a good question. I like the fact that you can play a proactive role as an in-house lawyer, as you have a chance to work closely with the creative department and you see from a very early point how the trademark is developing. Without the trademark you cannot sell the products so well.
Background: HUGO BOSS’s five collections
All the clothing brands use the trademarks in certain variations. Behind every line lies a certain philosophy.
BOSS SELECTION: a premium part of BOSS menswear and also includes accessories. It is positioned in the upper market segment; the luxurious BOSS SELECTION menswear line represents the premium world in the BOSS brand universe.
BOSS BLACK: The womenswear and menswear collections offer versatile fashion ranges with a rich array of elegant modern classics in business, leisure and formalwear.
BOSS ORANGE: This collection offers leisurewear for men and women who enjoy dressing in style and sporting surprising looks.
BOSS GREEN: BOSS GREEN presents golf and sportswear for men and bridges the gap between fashionable sports apparel and sportswear fashion.
HUGO: HUGO delivers unconventional looks for men and women: clothes that are progressive yet not overstated. It launched a special womenswear collection in 1998.
