Hermès // CSR Extract 2023

RISK FACTORS AND MANAGEMENT RISK FACTORS

4.1.3.2 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND COMBATING COUNTERFEITING ●

DESCRIPTION OF THE RISK s

POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON THE GROUP s

The Group is very committed to the protection and defence of its intellectual property rights. It is very active in the fight against counterfeiting in both the real and virtual worlds.

Infringements of the Group’s intellectual property rights could have a negative impact on its revenue and damage its brand image.

IMPACT PROBABILITY

RISK MANAGEMENT s

The Group has a particularly comprehensive portfolio of brands, models, patents and domain names, which is regularly expanding. Within each métier legal division, teams are specifically dedicated to these issues and ensure that the Group’s creations are protected effectively. Finally, the Group ensures that its rights are respected and pursues an active anti‑counterfeiting policy involving both preventive measures (guidance and training) and coercive measures (administrative, civil and criminal proceedings) around the world as well as on the Internet. The anti‑counterfeiting department undertakes these actions with the support of external consultants (investigators, law enforcement agents, industrial property consultants, lawyers) and in collaboration with the competent local authorities. They are carried out in both traditional markets and on the Internet (metaverse, online sales platforms, social networks, retail websites, instant messaging, etc.). These actions make it possible to protect the House's rights, seize and destroy (in compliance with CSR rules) several hundred thousand potentially dangerous counterfeit products each year, to trace the source of the production chain and dismantle what are usually criminal networks. Where applicable, the payment of damages compensates the prejudice suffered and such amounts are immediately reinvested in new actions in the fight against counterfeiting.

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4.1.4 RISKS RELATED TO SOCIAL, SOCIETAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Group’s social, societal and environmental responsibility issues are described in detail in chapter 2 “Corporate social responsibility and non‑financial performance”, and are articulated around the Hermès Group’s six strategic sustainable development pillars:

teams; s savoir‑faire ; s raw materials; s

environment; s suppliers and partners; s stakeholders. s

Based on the analysis of its priority CSR issues updated in 2023, Hermès continued to roll out its strategy and the associated actions. This materiality analysis was conducted by interviewing a panel made up of internal stakeholders who are experts in the subject (in France and abroad), and external stakeholders identified for their knowledge of the sector, the House and its functioning. Details of the method followed and the materiality matrix thus constructed are presented in chapter 2. This study confirmed and detailed the analysis conducted more widely at Group level in 2019 on three main themes: risks related to changes in major global issues regarding climate and biodiversity; s risks related to availability and judicious use of natural resources (water, energy, raw materials, waste management and recycling); s risks related to human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular, as regards the ethics aspect and the well‑being of our employees. s More details by type of risk, and the mitigation and prevention mechanisms for these risks are addressed specifically in chapter 2. CSR topics are also part of the impact assessment criteria for each of the risk factors.

Strategy and operations

Industry

CSR

Regulatory compliance

Finance

2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT HERMÈS INTERNATIONAL EXTRACT FROM 2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT HERMÈS INTERNATIONAL

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