Ruling on buying imitation perfumes of designer brands

26-8-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamulaikum. What is the ruling buying perfumes (spray and attars)That are made as alternative to the famous designer perfumes. Does this take the right of the original designer away as they at the ones who invented the fragrance and the companies that make the cheaper alternatives only copy the orig inal designers to create a similar fragrance. These perfume can be bought from famous websites such as Amazon, Islamic shops etc aswell as having their own websites. JazakAllah

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.

Patents, copyrighted designs, inventions, business names and trademarks are all forms of intellectual property (intangible property) which are protected under the Sharee‘ah. A resolution from the International Islamic Fiqh Academy reads,

“Business names, corporate names, trademarks, literary products, inventions and creative designs are rights which belong to their owners and which in contemporary times have financial value which can be traded. These rights are recognized by the Sharee‘ah and must not be infringed upon.”

Therefore, if the situation which you have referred to in the question involves any infringement on the business name or trademark of these perfumes or violation of the owner's rights, then it is impermissible to do so by means of selling, buying or directing others.

Allaah Knows best.