IP PROTECTION IN CHINA ’ S E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY
Another problem is that the nature of sales – using livestreaming and short video – makes activity harder to police , and offers a shorter window in which to monitor and act .
A user on TikTok , say , can recommend their own products or those of others , and either send followers to another platform to buy or sell directly from TikTok . The question for the industry is whether sites like TikTok , which charge a commission on sales , should be classified as e-commerce platforms or as advertising platforms .
If they are treated as an e-commerce platform , then they must take more responsibility to police counterfeit products which means they must scan for words , images , audio and video – and do so on livestreams that aren ’ t recorded .
Privacy is also a major challenge , said Bo Yu , with some social media platforms telling brands that they can ’ t hand over information in order to protect user data . For now , though , brands face a near-impossible task . Their teams cannot monitor livestreams in volume , which makes it difficult to enforce their IP rights . It ’ s a huge challenge for the industry – arguably its biggest – and few sites have an effective solution at hand . 51
That said , a few platforms have shown what can be achieved in the e-commerce space by combining technology and a willingness to act proactively in order to meet and exceed international best practice . Combating counterfeits and upholding IP will require ongoing efforts by platforms and their partners . But , as recent years have shown , such efforts benefit everyone involved – everyone , that is , except those involved in the counterfeit trade .
Pinduoduo : Looking Ahead
As the world ’ s largest social commerce player , Pinduoduo ’ s future efforts fall into three areas :
• Operate with more precision , and use data to better inform decisions .
• Use networking technology to map merchants , eliminating those selling counterfeits .
• Involve more stakeholders , because collaboration and communication are vital .
Underpinning this is the company ’ s reliance on technology-focused solutions . One area that Pinduoduo is improving on is takedown requests , as outlined earlier . An added benefit is that developing more such data-driven solutions allows the firm to allocate resources smartly and efficiently , which means it can better serve its customers , merchants and brand partners .
The second area is to use networking technology to improve the firm ’ s screening processes . To date , most screening has focused on products , and looking ahead , Pinduoduo will incorporate its networking technology – which was developed to connect friends so they can recommend products to each other – to map merchants . In this way , Pinduoduo can move from policing on a product basis to doing so on a product and merchant basis .
How will that work ? If Pinduoduo suspects a merchant is selling fakes , it will use its network technology to identify and track other associated merchants – for example , perhaps they both source via a community from the same supplier . That will help the platform root out bad vendors more easily .
The third step is to improve how it collaborates and communicates with all stakeholders to leverage brand owners , consumers and honest merchants in devising better ways to protect IP . As the operator of the platform , Pinduoduo views its job as one that sets the rules to incentivize the good operators and punish the bad . Keeping it clean and safe requires the assistance of all stakeholders . 51
Addressing the Sale of Counterfeits on the Internet , INTA , op cit .
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