ONE of Scotland's most popular brands is to appoint an "ambassador" to Japan to crack down of forgeries threatening its multi-million pound business.
Harris Tweed is hugely popular in Japan with trade from the region bringing in around £4million every year.
But that means counterfeiters are also trying to cash in, flooding the market with fake goods and inferior products.
Now the Harris Tweed Authority is taking action to stamp out the forgeries by having a representative in Japan whose mission it will be to protect its lucrative business.
The job, the HTA says, will not be to take legal action but more to educate Japanese businesses not to take fake goods in the first place.
Lorna MacAulay, chief executive of the Lewis-based Harris Tweed Authority, said: “Japan is an extremely important market for our industry and we have had to take action on a number of occasions in recent years against the misuse of the trademark.
“We have even had to deal with the forgery of labels which were then being sold for use on products that had no connection to genuine Harris Tweed.
"This is a very difficult problem to address at long range and we feel that the presence of an HTA representative on the ground, picking up on these cases quickly, could have a positive effect.”
She gave the hypothetical example of sports jackets with only the collars or elbows made of Harris Tweed, which could not be marketed as Harris Tweed jackets. That would be objectionable."
She added: "The ambassador is not being appointed in order to litigate. We have an extensive portfolio of trademark registrations all over the world. In Japan for cloth, garments and accessories and the ambassador's job will be to educate our customers there to use the brand properly. All our experience tells us once it is explained what is involved in Harris Tweed, the Japanese will be very happy to use the brand properly. They are extremely honourable when it comes to intellectual property."
Harris Tweed products use its trademark Orb labels, which is the oldest British trademark in continuous use.
The cloth is also protected and defined by the Harris Tweed Act 1993 as cloth that has been hand-woven by the islanders of Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra in their own homes, using pure virgin wool that has been dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.
Since the industry's near collapse less than 10 years ago, there has been an explosion of global interest in Harris Tweed.
It has appeared in Doctor Who's Tardis and in the Oscar-winning thriller Argo. Kylie Minogue, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow are enthusiasts. It now features on everything from Radley's bags to hotel furnishings and motorcycle jackets in the US.
Its popularity grew in the likes of South Korea, India and Singapore. Japan became a major market early, at one point accounting for 60 per cent of exports of the Hebridean cloth.
Ms MacAulay said somebody had been identified for the role of ambassador, and the appointment would be announced soon.
The HTA will continue to work closely with the British Embassy in Tokyo which had been consistently supportive of efforts to promote Harris Tweed and to prevent misuse of the Orb.
The move was welcomed by Brian Wilson, former UK Trade Minister, who now chairs Harris Tweed Hebrides, the biggest producer of the fabric.
He said: “In a sense, it is a compliment to the success of the brand that there are so many attempts to latch onto its name and reputation.
"However, there is no doubt about the danger of the brand being devalued and it can only be helpful to have someone who really knows the Japanese market working there on the industry’s behalf”.
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