There are avenues available for brand owners to take down counterfeit products on e-commerce platforms such as Temu, eBay, Amazon, Alibaba and JD.com. Online retail platforms have been considerably investing in AI technologies to assist with detection of infringing listings. 

As of 28 March 2025, Australian retailers will now be able to list their products on the major Chinese e-commerce giant, Temu. This is a significant development for e-commerce in Australia and fits with the trend towards online shopping with 1 in 7 Australian households making weekly online purchases.¹

As online sales continue to surge, retailers should regularly review their strategies to monitor e-commerce platforms for impersonators attempting to falsify their brand and mislead consumers. Here are some tips on how to take down infringing material from Temu, eBay, Amazon, Alibaba and JD.com.

Temu

Intellectual property (IP) owners can report instances of IP infringement through Temu’s online intellectual property infringement report portal. You will be required to set out the specific identification of the IP you believe is infringed (including the registration number, written description of copyrighted work, link to copyrighted work and first date of use), the nature of the infringement, a list of the infringing products, a list of the infringers and any supporting documentation. Temu will then investigate the listings or contents upon receiving your request report. Recipients will also be provided the opportunity to lodge a counter-notice if their material was removed stating why they believe the removal was a mistake and any other relevant documents required under applicable laws. 

Temu has a specific Brand Registry which can be used to enable proactive protections for your products and listings. The aim of the Brand Registry is to allow you to easily detect suspicious IP infringements.

eBay

IP owners can report eBay listings that infringe their IP rights through eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program. They are required to submit a Notice of Claimed Infringement (NOCI) outlining the IP infringed and whether the infringement is in respect of the item (i.e. a counterfeit product that infringes a trade mark) or the listing content (i.e. the listing uses copyright images and text without authorisation). Notably, IP owners completing the NOCI indemnify eBay against any claim, loss, damage, liability, cost or expense that may be incurred if eBay takes action against a seller.

If you are not a member of the VeRO program you can elect to “Report this item” which enables them to submit a quick complaint with a brief description of the alleged infringement.

For sellers who have had a listing removed, eBay will provide details about why a listing was removed and how to contact the IP owner directly. eBay encourages sellers to contact the IP owner directly in relation to the removal of listings.

Amazon

IP owners with a pending or registered trade mark can enrol their brand with Amazon’s Brand Registry. The trade mark must be in the form of a word mark or an image-based mark with words, letters or numbers. 

Amazon is currently only accepting trade marks issued by local trade mark offices in Australia, the USA, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Singapore, Spain, Benelux, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Egypt, Sweden, Poland, the EU and the UAE. The trade mark must also appear on your products or packaging. 

Amazon’s IP Policy does not allow listings that infringe IP rights of those who hold such rights. Amazon’s automated technology, such as large language models, seeks to detect and prevent allegedly infringing listings (such as infringing logos, shapes, patterns) before publication. If such “bad listings” are published, IP owners can report IP infringements through Amazon’s Brand Registry platform.

Alibaba

Alibaba’s International Intellectual Property Protection Platform allows IP owners to submit takedown notices against suspected IP infringements. The Alibaba platform covers the following e-commerce platforms: Aliexpress.com, Alibaba.com, Lazada and Miravia. Where takedowns are established, the product listings will be removed. Sellers are given the opportunity to file counter-notices and based on the available evidence, Alibaba may reinstate product listings.

Before an IP owner can make a complaint, it must verify its IP rights by submitting its current registration certificate or in the case of where copyright is not registered, submit a template copyright declaration letter. 

JD.com China

JD.com is the largest retailer in China servicing nearly 600 million active customers and an important avenue by which Australian retailers can enter the Chinese market.²

JD.com has its own IP Protection Platform through which brand owners can submit take down requests and a specialised brand protection team to deal with counterfeit goods. It primarily focuses on IP registered in China. Through the link enipr.jd.com, brand owners can file claims via the Notice & Takedown platform for infringement claims of trademark, patent and copyright. JD.com also operates a "zero tolerance" policy towards counterfeit goods and operates an AI driven platform to identify infringing products through an analysis of customer comments, image recognition technology and product monitoring systems that identifies abnormal listings. 

New Role to be Played by AI

Major online retailers have been investing in AI tools to proactively identify IP infringement on their sites. For instance, Amazon claims that its AI tools help to proactively block more than 99% of suspected infringing listings before a brand ever had to report them.³ Similarly, AI is used to assist with seller verification, continuous monitoring of existing products and is used for real time feedback for brands when they submit a notice of infringement. We expect continued investment by major online retailers in AI tools that identify IP infringement. 

How Dentons can help

Actively monitoring e-commerce platforms and enforcing infringements of your IP material including trade marks and copyright works is critical. Failing to promptly enforce your IP rights can lead to loss of sales and reputational damage if consumers mistakenly associate a brand with an impersonation.  At the same time, brand owners must take care to ensure they have legitimate IP rights they can rely upon and assert against a potential infringer, so as not to make unjustified or groundless threats of infringement. 

Dentons offers global legal expertise to assist businesses in protecting their intellectual property rights. Our services include: 

• arranging for trade mark, patent and design applications and (where available) copyright registrations globally for brands, inventions, new and distinctive products and protectable works;
• monitoring and submitting takedown notices in respect of trade mark and copyright infringements on a variety of online platforms, including social media and search engines;
• establishing IP and competitor watches to monitor for conflicting trade marks, domain names, and other online activities to rapidly detect potential infringements; and
• identifying and removing negative comments and reviews on social media platforms and review sites by flagging content, providing evidence in support of removal, and appealing the decisions of content moderators.

With offices across 80 countries, Dentons can support you with protecting your intellectual property rights everywhere you do business. Our global footprint means we can access thinking around industry, political and environmental trends that may impact your business now or in the near term.

For confidential assistance with your IP enforcement program, please contact us.

1. Inside Australian eCommerce Report 2024 | AusPost
2. JD.com, Inc.
3. 2024 Brand Protection Report - Trustworthy Shopping at Amazon