TikTok Shop publishes first IP rights report

For the first time, TikTok Shop – which has been accused of being a conduit for counterfeit goods – has published a report charting its track record on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).

Between July 2023 and June 2024, more than 4,800 seller accounts were deactivated due to IPR violations, with 5m product listings prevented from going live over the same period, according to the e-commerce platform.

"We've created a robust end-to-end framework to educate, enforce, and preserve the highest level of trust and IPR security, claimed the company in the report, noting that it now employs 1,400 IPR specialists in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US.

"We continuously strive to go above and beyond the requirements of laws applicable to intellectual property infringement and in particular with regards to counterfeit goods."

The explosive growth of TikTok, which now has a user base estimated at around 1 billion people each month, has made it a magnet for product promotion and marketing campaigns but also a source of counterfeits.

There have been concerns that TikTok Shop – which officially launched in the US last year after an initial rollout in Asia and already boasts tends of millions of customers – could become an avenue for knock-off products.

To tackle that perspective, TikTok Shop has forged partnerships with brand protection specialists like Entrupy and Real Authentication to try to prevent the sale of counterfeits on its platform.

Other metrics covered in TikTok Shop's update include that it removed 800,000 infringing videos and livestreams, processed 180,000 requests for takedowns via its IP Protection Centre (IPPC), and permanently revoked 30,000 creator/influencer selling permissions.

"When we identify a high counterfeit risk for a particular brand, type of product, or category, we ask third party sellers to provide a letter of authorisation from the brand owner or authorised resellers, or a valid proof of purchase, according to the company.

As of July 1, 2024, 374,229 penalties for missing brand authorisation were applied, while 42,951 shops provided an authorisation which was accepted.

"When we cannot make a determination as to whether a product is counterfeit, we seek support from brand owners or instruct third-party agencies to conduct investigations into the physical products, said TikTok Shop. The test-purchase programme resulted in the deactivation of 1,426 seller accounts.

TikTok has also responded to calls by various trade organisations – including the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) and the the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) – to include its marketplace in the 2024 the US Trade Representative (USTR) Notorious Markets list.

The calls, made in comments submitted to the USTR, "fail to clearly identify why TikTok should be included in the list," arguing that it continues "to make steady progress to protect the safety of our community and integrity of our platform."

The company has received an endorsement from Joseph Cherayath, vice president of enforcement at brand protection specialist Corsearch, who said it has seen "significant improvements", pointing to improved tools for reporting infringements and the introduction of the IPPC portal.