The platform has the obligation to supervise the authenticity of the goods sold by sellers on the platform. If the buyer purchases fake goods on the platform, the platform also needs to bear joint and several liability. No e-commerce platform is willing to pay for other people’s “fakes”. As a result, major e-commerce platforms have begun to introduce new intellectual property regulations to help right holders protect their rights. The following provides relevant rules for e-commerce intellectual property rights on each platform.
(I) AliExpress Platform
AliExpress platform statement, if users publish and sell goods suspected of infringing third-party intellectual property rights, they may be complained by the intellectual property owner or buyer, and the platform will randomly check the information of goods (including delisted goods). If there is suspected infringement, the information will be returned or deleted, and penalties will be imposed according to the type of infringement.
Note: 1. AliExpress will impose applicable penalties on relevant sellers according to the status of the complaint of infringing goods when it is accepted and in accordance with relevant regulations.
2. For all general violations and copyright infringement complaints on the same day, including all complaints that are established (trademark or patent rights: the party complained against is complained against by the same intellectual property rights, and does not initiate a counter-notification within the prescribed period, or initiates a counter-notification but the counter-notification is not established; copyright: the party complained against is complained against by the same copyright owner, and does not initiate a counter-notification within the prescribed period, or initiates a counter-notification but the counter-notification is not established), and the AliExpress platform sampling inspection, the cumulative deduction shall not exceed 6 points.
3. For all serious violations within the same three days, including all complaints that are established (i.e. the party complained against is complained against by the same intellectual property rights, and does not initiate a counter-notification within the prescribed period; or initiates a counter-notification but the counter-notification is not established) and the AliExpress platform sampling inspection, only one violation will be counted; for those who commit serious violations three times, their accounts will be closed, and the cumulative number of serious violations will not distinguish between the types of infringement.
4. AliExpress has the right to impose penalties on sellers’ product violations and infringements and sellers’ stores, including but not limited to: ① Return or delete products/information; ② Restrict product release; ③ Temporarily freeze accounts; ④ Close accounts. For users whose accounts are closed, AliExpress has the right to take measures to prevent the user from registering on AliExpress again.
5. The penalty for each violation is valid for 365 days from the date of the penalty.
6. When the infringement of the user is particularly significant or extreme, AliExpress has the right to unilaterally terminate the AliExpress Merchant Service Agreement and Free Membership Agreement, directly close the user account and all accounts associated with it at AliExpress’ discretion, and/or take other measures that AliExpress deems appropriate at its discretion to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers or rights holders or the normal operation of the platform. In this case, in addition to the right to directly close the account, AliExpress also has the right to freeze the funds in the user’s associated international Alipay account and AliExpress account, including to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of consumers or rights holders are protected when exercising their rights to complain, report, sue, etc.
7. AliExpress reserves the final right of interpretation and decision on the above handling measures, and will also reserve all rights related thereto.
8. If there is any inconsistency, ambiguity or conflict between the Chinese and non-Chinese versions of these rules, the Chinese version shall prevail.
(II) Alibaba International Station
Alibaba International Station declares that users shall not use website services to infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, including general infringement and serious infringement.
If infringement occurs on Alibaba International Station, users will face penalties such as deduction of points, account closure and even taking intellectual property examinations.