WHEN BLOCKCHAIN MEETS FASHION DESIGN: CAN SMART CONTRACTS CURE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION DEFICIENCY?

As one of the most creative fields that employs technology, fashion design surprisingly lacks effective intellectual property protection. This article posits that the blockchain platform and smart contract applications can remedy the failure of intellectual property laws to protect designs and dramatically improve the industry. Therefore, the industry as a whole, including luxury brands but also smaller and medium-sized brands and young designers, should adopt these technologies as the solution to their current challenges. This article explains how blockchain technology can be used to create a crypto-legal structure of endogenous protective laws administered through a decentralized system of self-executing smart contracts that can fill the gap in the existing intellectual property regime. The article further addresses how the adoption of such technology improves the control over designs, the distribution chains, fee collection, international transactions and the fight against infringement, while effectively creating a more efficient and transparent industry. These conclusions are based on theoretical justification focusing on the theory of law and economics. Finally, the article urges first movers within the fashion industry to adopt blockchain technology and discusses the hurdles that arise with implementing such a system and ends with an assessment of the impact of blockchain-based smart contract on the players in the industry.