Chapters in this guide
24
The fashion industry in Lithuania has grown rapidly over the last decade. The increasing number of fashion journals, model agencies, fashion-related events, and local designers confirms this growth. According to IBISWorld statistics, over the past five years, the retail sales of clothing, footwear, and leather goods in Lithuania increased by 7.6%, reaching EUR 1.2 billion.
While many Lithuanian fashion brands position themselves as operating globally from Vilnius, they often retain a strong local identity by using domestic materials, such as linen and wool. Manufacturing methods also tend to be more traditional: knitting, crocheting, and felting.
| IPR | Duration | Time and modalities for grant | Pros and cons in the fashion sector |
| Trademarks | 10 years (renewable for periods of 10 years without any limits). | The application must be filed with the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania. On average, a trademark is registered within 5–6 months from the date the application is filed. | Pros: Strong protection for a long period of time. Cons: Protects the brand itself, but not the product(s) or their design. |
| Design | 5 years (renewable for 4 times for periods of 5 years each, up to a total of 25 years max). | The application must be filed with the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania. On average, a design is registered 9 months after the date the application is filed. | Pros: As design is essential in fashion products, design registration provides extensive opportunities for its protection. Cons: Novelty must be proven. |
| Trade secrets | Unlimited, unless lawfully disclosed. | Not applicable. | Pros: Trade secrets are protected as long as the information does not become public. Cons: The scope of trade secrets does not extend to a third party independently coming up with the same idea. |
| Domain names | 1 year (renewable without any limits). | Domain names are registered on a first come, first served basis. The applicant’s domain name must not include a third party’s registered trademark.
| Pros: The registration process is short, easy, and not expensive. Cons: New domain names may take time to hit high search results. |
| Patents | 20 years (non-renewable). | The application must be filed with the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania. On average, the patent is registered within 21 months starting from the date the application is filed. | Pros: Provides strong protection. Cons: Takes an extremely long time to register; requires a lot of financial resources; once registered, there is a yearly fee for each year for which patent is valid (starting from year 3). |
| Copyright | 70 years after the author’s death. | Not applicable. | Pros: No registration required; extremely lengthy duration of protection. Cons: Originality must be proven in case of infringement. |
According to the Lithuanian Law on Trademarks, a trademark can consist of any signs, in particular words, including personal names, or designs, letters, numerals, colours, the shape of goods or of the packaging of goods, or sounds. However, such signs must meet three conditions. Firstly, it must be possible to distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. Secondly, such signs must be capable of being represented on the Register of Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania in a manner which enables the competent authorities and the public to determine the clear and precise subject matter of the protection afforded to its proprietor. Thirdly, the trademark cannot be descriptive.
An application to register a trademark must be filed with the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania. The registration is valid for 10 years and the trademark can be re-registered for an unlimited number of times.
Lithuanian trademark law recognises the following marks: word marks, visual marks, 3D marks, sound or musical marks, colour marks, positional marks, pattern marks, motion marks, multimedia marks, and holographic marks. Further, depending on the purpose of the mark and its legal affiliation with the owner, the mark may be registered as one of the following categories: individual, collective, or certification.
From 1 December 2025, geographical indications are applicable not only for food products, wine, and spirits, but also for craft and industrial products, which include textile products. Lithuania has chosen the direct registration method, whereby applications are submitted directly to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
The Lithuanian Design Act establishes the possibility of registering a design. A single design application may include more than one, but no more than 100, examples of designs for the same product. The product — except for ornamentation — whose design examples are requested to be registered in the application must belong to one class of the Locarno Classification.
The Lithuanian Copyright Act provides protection for material created and exceeding the copyright threshold of originality for 70 years from the death of the creator. It is not possible to register copyrights.
Other pertinent IP rights can be protected by registering a domain name, by classifying information as a trade secret, and by registering a patent.
Domain names are registered in special registries for each top-level domain. WHOIS-type databases provide public access to selected registration information. It is essential to note that the holders of prior IP rights have the right to demand that other persons refrain from using those elements to which they hold rights in domain names.
Trade secrets are considered to be information which is secret (not obvious to an average market player), has commercial value, and where specific measures are applied in order to protect such information.
Patents are granted quite rarely in the fashion industry, as to do so requires technical invention to exist. Therefore, if there is lack of technical character and failure to meet patentability criteria, the patent cannot be granted. Fashion designs usually concern shape, cut, colour, patterns, style, and appearance — which are aesthetic or artistic traits, but not technical. For a patent to be granted in the fashion industry, the technical inventions usually concern new textile technologies or functional materials, innovative manufacturing processes, or wearable technology.
Licence agreements
The applicant or the owner of the mark has the right to grant another person an exclusive or non-exclusive licence to use the applied-for or registered mark to designate all or part of the goods or services for which it has been applied for registration or registered, throughout the territory of the Republic of Lithuania or in a specific part thereof. The licence agreement may be registered in the Register of Trademarks.
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
As ideas are not protected by any intellectual property rights, it is highly recommended to have an NDA signed in order to protect an idea or concept. In any NDA it is crucial to clearly define the confidential information.
Subcontract agreements with suppliers/in-house manufacturing
As suppliers are usually located outside Lithuania, subcontract agreements with suppliers tend to be international. In this case it is important to decide on the law governing the agreement and on the jurisdiction of the courts. In addition, it is crucial to agree on the usage of the main brand and to agree on confidentiality, as subcontractors often gain access to business secrets.
In-house manufacturing is quite rare in Lithuania. However, in such cases agreements must include scope, obligations, qualifications of the staff, quality control procedures, grant of licence, clauses on confidentiality and handling of such confidential information, and contractual penalties.
Agency agreement
Commercial agency agreements must be concluded in writing and include: limitations of civil liability for the agent or the principal, or complete exemption from such liability; a non-compete obligation after termination of the contract; the conditions for termination of the contract; the exclusive rights of the commercial agent; and the dependence of the commercial agent’s right to remuneration on the performance of the concluded contract. Such agreement must be concluded for a definite or indefinite period. The renumeration of an agent can be specified as a fixed monetary sum or as a percentage of the value of the concluded transaction or of the amount recovered.
Selective distribution online in high-end fashion and trademark protection
In terms of high-end fashion selective distribution, it is worth noting that it is usually the suppliers who initiate the conditions of distribution agreements rather than distributors themselves. Traditional clauses are not further discussed.
Co-branding and co-marketing
In co-branding and co-marketing agreements it is crucial to define licensing conditions, conditions as to how name, logo, or artwork can appear on products, and renumeration distribution conditions.
Franchising and alternative sales model agreements
The franchise agreement must be in writing and shall be registered in the same register of legal entities as the rights holder and registered in the same register as the franchise (IP) object. Key clauses include clearly defining renumeration, extent of exclusive rights belonging to the rights holder, the terms of use of those rights, and conditions of commercial experience.
Employing fashion models
Models are usually contracted by civil agreements, agreeing on time of services provision, payment, and the extent of services, including usage of image rights.
Legal protection of an image does not apply to the demonstration of the human body in general, but to the image of a specific, identifiable person seen in a photograph or in part of it. The Supreme Court of Lithuania noted that “the essence of the protection of the right to an image is that a photograph (part thereof), portrait or other image of a natural person may be reproduced, sold, shown, printed, and the person may be photographed only with his consent”. A person’s right to an image is violated when the person depicted in a photo taken and distributed without his or her consent is identified, i.e. recognisable.
Social media, influencers and brand ambassadors/celebrities
Contractual agreements regarding advertising on social media shall clearly define project scope, IP rights usage, deliverables, schedule, deadlines, payments, brand and reputation protections, termination and dispute resolution, confidentiality and non-disclosure, indemnity clauses, and consent of influencers and brand ambassadors to create advertising on social media which is compliant with the applicable laws.
Advertising standards, relevant authorities and advertising practice
The State Consumer Rights Protection Authority is the enforcement body monitoring compliance with the Advertising Act.
The Law on Advertising states that advertising via remote means, such as telephone or email, can be provided only with the consent of a consumer or at a consumer’s request.
Any advertisement on social media must be marked that it is an advertisement.
As Lithuania is a part of the EU, the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act are the main regulations which concern online marketing. As the acts are directly applicable, they are not implemented into national laws. The main national law regulating the marketing itself is the Law on Advertising.
The enforcement institution is the State Consumer Rights Protection Authority.
Consumer protection is ensured by the Law on Consumer Protection, which also implements several EU Directives related to consumer protection. The Civil Code also regulates consumers’ rights. The enforcement institution is the State Consumer Rights Protection Authority.
The most relevant rules are regarding the quality of the products, delivery of goods, return of products, and online selling. For instance, a consumer can return the goods within 14 days, and has the right to demand the repair or replacement of the defective sold product.
A store layout can be protected as a trademark and/or design in Lithuania if it meets the essential criteria. However, no Lithuanian fashion stores have registered their layout yet. There have been cases where shelves are registered, but thus far no store layouts. On the other hand, there are stores whose layouts are protected across the entire EU. Lithuania does not currently have any fashion stores that would have their physical store layout protected.
Online store layout cannot be registered as a design but can be subject to copyright protection and in some cases to trademark protection.
Unfair competition rules prohibit the unauthorised use of signs identical or similar to another business’s name or trademark; the provision of misleading or unsubstantiated information about goods or services; the use, disclosure, or unlawful acquisition of another entity’s trade secrets; the solicitation of competitors’ employees to leave their jobs or neglect their duties; the imitation of competitors’ products or packaging; and the dissemination of false or unverified information about the qualifications or financial or legal status of a business or its personnel.
Although these rules are enforced by court decisions, case outcomes vary. Current practice shows that the burden of proof placed on injured parties is often excessively high, requiring legal representatives to use significant creativity and flexibility to defend their clients effectively.
Currently there is no applicable regulation addressing sustainability in the fashion industry. However, from the end of September 2026, changes related to sustainability in the Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Commercial Practices towards Consumers will enter into force. These changes will prohibit greenwashing practices, such as statements that a product is climate neutral, where such product in fact is not; or using sustainability labels without having a legitimate certification.
Fashion industry recognises and acknowledges the following ISO certifications: ISO 9001 on Quality Management Systems and ISO 14001 on Environmental Management Systems. Besides ISO certifications, manufacturers tend to meet the guidelines of Cascale (the former Sustainable Apparel Coalition), such as developing and validating Science-Based Targets and Science-Aligned Targets. In addition, manufacturers tend to be compliant with Greenpeace’s Global Textile Procurement Standard.
Imports and exports are exempted from customs within the EU. However, to sell textile products in the EU, they must comply with the EU labelling requirements. That means that textile products must carry a label clearly identifying the composition of all textile fibres used and indicating any non-textile parts of animal origin.
In order to ensure smooth and effective protection of IP rights while importing and/or exporting fashion goods, the customs authorities are guided by EU laws. Within the EU, when carrying out customs controls, customs authorities may detain goods suspected of infringing IP rights. As a rule, customs authorities take enforcement action upon receiving an application from rights holders. The customs authority in Lithuania has a template for this application to allow rights holders to take action where there is suspicion that counterfeit goods are being imported or exported, and filing the application is free from any fees. It is possible to file an EU-wide Application for Action in the IP Enforcement Portal. Customs authorities may also detain the counterfeit goods without a prior application.
Are the same consumer protection rules applicable for selling in second-hand stores?
A buyer may claim remedies for undisclosed defects in a second-hand item, including free repair, replacement, price reduction, or return — unless the defect is minor or results from normal wear. Second-hand stores are not required to accept returns of non-defective goods within 14 days; such returns are only possible with the seller’s consent.
What are the compliance requirements for online stores?
Goods purchased online must be delivered within 30 days from the date of conclusion of the contract. When selling online, the seller must provide the following information in a clear and comprehensible manner: the main characteristics of the goods; information on the seller; the total price of the goods; the costs of using means of communication when concluding the contract, if any; the procedure for payment; delivery; performance of the contract; the term for delivery of goods; the procedure for the examination of consumer complaints by the seller; right of withdrawal; and information about product warranty. In case of a return, the consumer must send the goods back to the seller no later than 14 days from the date of notification to the trader, and the trader must refund the paid amounts only upon receipt of the returned goods or proof that the goods have been sent to the trader.
What steps shall we follow in case of our IP rights infringement?
Before turning to the enforcement bodies, it is highly advisable to send a formal complaint to the infringing party. If this is not effective, then it is worth trying Alternative Dispute Resolution options. Recourse to the courts shall be a measure of last resort as it is less time or cost efficient than other possible options.