They are odes to craftsmanship, but why aren’t perfumes protected like other art forms?
A luxury fragrance can take years to compose, yet a dupe that mimics its scent profile – and sells for a fraction of the price – can appear within weeks. It’s a phenomenon plaguing perfumers, whose largely intangible work is difficult to protect.
Trailblazing master perfumer Francis Kurkdjian recognizes it all too well, leading Christian Dior Parfums as perfume creation director, and his eponymous Maison Francis Kurkdjian, home to Baccarat Rouge 540 – the modern king of fragrance dupes. “A formula of a scent cannot be patented,” he explains, “even though a great perfume is the result of years of study, training, and creative vision, just like any other act of creation.”
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There are, of course, myriad artistic elements to scent-making beyond the commercialized packaging and presentation – all of which can carry emotional storytelling. Most central is the harmoniously structured and deftly blended juice itself, which “some would argue is culturally and creatively treated as an art form,” says Amanda McDowall, specialist brand protection and IP lawyer at Lee & Thompson, one of the UK’s leading law firms. So why is it that olfactory art is not clearly recognized under copyright law in Europe and the US? “Music can be written as a notation or recorded and paintings can exist visually on a canvas,” she tells us. “Perfumes are difficult to protect in this way because they are hard to fix in a stable expressive form, and are perceived very subjectively.”
Instead, as McDowall explains, there are types of intellectual property protection available to safeguard perfume creators’ rights. The most important form is likely trade secrets, whereby “the exact formula for a fragrance is often kept confidential, in the same way that famous soft drink formulations are.» Trade secrets work well, she continues, “because formulas are difficult to perfectly reverse engineer and secrecy can theoretically last forever.» Some perfume houses also develop sophisticated molecules to make their fragrances more difficult to replicate, says Clara Molloy, co-founder of luxury niche fragrances Memo Paris. “But ultimately, these efforts only buy time: people who truly want to copy something will always find a way.”
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There are other tricks of the trade, too. With each Memo Paris fragrance, for example, maturation and maceration times are changed, Molloy shares. “It is a know-how done by people passionate about perfume.” And like the rare ingredients they source, this expertise comes at a high cost. “Those who produce dupes don’t want to put this kind of price on a perfume,” she points out. Natalie Guselli, head of beauty at Liberty – one of the retail world’s most iconic fragrance destinations – agrees. “The reality is that the concentration, ingredients, and construction of a luxury fragrance create a depth and staying power that is very difficult to replicate with cheaper alternatives.” As Molloy quips, “you can always buy the copy of a Chanel dress, you are still not wearing Chanel.»
Paradoxically, this does bring about the argument for dupes: they can open the door to a world that often feels inaccessible. That said, as perfumer Pia Long highlights in her new book Demo Accords, far from “heroically Robin Hood-ing their way through perfumery’s elitism problems”, dupe companies are simply “stealing from everyone.» And besides, “there is enough perfume in the world at every possible price point to have options for all.» Quite.
Ironically, by amplifying their cultural relevance, dupes may actually reinforce the appeal of the originals they imitate. “Fragrance continues to be the strongest-performing category in Liberty’s Beauty Hall, and through our Fragrance Lounge we are seeing customers increasingly investing in highly distinctive, niche scents with strong quality and longevity,” Guselli shares. “Whilst dupe culture has undoubtedly grown online, it hasn’t had the same impact within luxury fragrance because fragrance lovers are ultimately looking for originality, craftsmanship and emotional connection – not mass appeal.”
As AI evolves, bringing the prospect of near-perfect scent replicas closer, we may see legal protections for fragrances expand. For now, Molloy remains open to what dupe culture reveals. “My heart hesitates between two positions. On one hand, I look down on copies. They are almost always poor in quality, and ultimately quite depressing. On the other, I love the fact that perfume cannot truly be protected; that it remains invisible, free, almost wild. It allows trends and creative movements to emerge naturally.” And that, perhaps, is the beauty of scent: its profound ability to help us make sense of the world.
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