ECommerce sites under Alibaba and Tencent flagged by US for selling counterfeit goods

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ECommerce sites under Alibaba Group, Tencent's WeChat, as well as Shopee, Bukalapak and Tokopedia have been listed on the 2021 Notorious Markets List by the US government. In total, the list identified 42 online markets and 35 physical markets that are reported to engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. The goal of the list is to motivate appropriate action by the private sector and governments to reduce piracy and counterfeiting.

AliExpress and WeChat made the list for the first time, and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said these are two significant China-based online markets that reportedly facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting. Meanwhile, Baidu Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo, Taobao, Shopee, Bukalapak, and Tokopedia continue to be listed.

Tencent's spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the company "strongly disagrees" with the decision made by the United States Trade Representative and is committed to working collaboratively to resolve this matter.

"Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection is central to our business. We take a comprehensive approach, based on industry best practices, to combatting counterfeiting and infringement on all of our platforms," the spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, the company actively monitors, deters, and acts upon violations across its platforms by, for example, applying robust measures including education, enforcement and close collaboration with rights holders, government agencies and law enforcement.

"We have invested significant resources into IPR protection over the years and continue to improve our systems, procedures and technologies so we can better protect our own IP and the rights of others," the spokesperson said.

At the same time, Ekhel Chandra Wijaya, external communications senior lead, Tokopedia said the company takes firm action against all forms of abuse of the Tokopedia platform and/or violations of applicable laws in Indonesia.

"Even though Tokopedia is UGC - where every seller can upload products independently - we continue to take cooperative actions to keep activities on the Tokopedia platform in accordance with applicable laws. Tokopedia has a policy on what products can be traded in the rules for using the Tokopedia platform section K," Wijaya said.

Tokopedia also has a Reporting Abuse feature where the public can report products that violate, both the rules for using the Tokopedia platform and the laws that apply in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Alibaba told The Wall Street Journal that it is "committed to IP protection" and that it looks forward to continuing working with governments to address all concerns regarding IP protection across its platforms. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Alibaba, Shopee, Bukalapak, DHGate, Baidu, and Pinduoduo for comment.

Nine physical Chinese markets including the Fujian Province, Shanghai, Guangdong Province, and Beijing were also listed by the US government. In Southeast Asia, Kuala Lumpur's Petaling Street Market and Jakarta's Mangga Dua Market were also among the physical markets listed. According to USTR, while the sale and distribution of counterfeit and pirated goods online is a growing concern, physical markets continue to enable substantial trade in counterfeit and pirated goods.

The USTR explained in the report that it highlights certain online and physical markets because they "exemplify global counterfeiting and piracy concerns" and because the "scale of infringing activity in these markets can cause significant harm to US IP owners, workers, consumers, and the economy". It added that some of the identified markets reportedly host a combination of legitimate and unauthorised activities. Others openly or reportedly exist solely to engage in or facilitate unauthorised activity.

“The global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods undermines critical U.S. innovation and creativity and harms American workers,” said ambassador Katherine Tai. She added that this illicit trade also increases the vulnerability of workers involved in the manufacturing of counterfeit goods to exploitative labour practices, and the counterfeit goods can pose significant risks to the health and safety of consumers and workers around the world.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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