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• U.S. has been compiling the list since 2011
• Pinduoduo, Taobao, Baidu Wangpan, DHgate.com
remain on list
U.S. government on Thursday added Chinese e-commerce site
AliExpress and messaging platform WeChat to ‘Notorious Markets for
Counterfeiting and Piracy,’ an annual compilation list of the worst
marketplaces where large-scale intellectual property infringement occurs.
Alibaba Group’s AliExpress and Tencent’s WeChat are “two
significant China-based online markets that reportedly facilitate substantial
trademark counterfeiting,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
said in a statement.
The list helps large companies to fight against piracy and
counterfeiting.
“The global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods
undermines critical U.S. innovation and creativity and harms American workers,”
Ambassador Katherine Tai said in a statement.
“This illicit trade also increases the vulnerability of
workers involved in the manufacturing of counterfeit goods to exploitative
labor practices, and the counterfeit goods can pose significant risks to the
health and safety of consumers and workers around the world.”
Tool to protect intellectual property
In 2011, the USTR started publishing the annual list to increase
public awareness and help market operators and governments prioritize
intellectual-property enforcement efforts.
“It leads to sharing of best practices around how companies
can deal with what’s going to be an ever-increasing challenge, which is the
counterfeiters, the bad actors who are using these platforms,” Robert
Holleyman, who helped oversee the list as deputy U.S. trade representative
under President Barack Obama, told Bloomberg in an interview.
The USTR’s list is a spinoff from its so-called Special 301
report, an annual review of the global state of IP rights protection and
enforcement.
The role of the list is to highlight global counterfeiting
and piracy concerns as the scale of the violations in the listed markets can
cause significant harm to American intellectual property owners, workers,
consumers, and the economy.
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The 2021 review of the list identifies 42 online and 35
physical marketplaces that engage in or facilitate trademark counterfeiting or
copyright piracy in substantial amounts.
IP violation by Chinese markets
Although the U.S. and China, the two largest economies
globally, share the biggest bilateral trade relationship, America listed China
as the top country of origin for counterfeit goods seized by U.S. Customs and
Border Protection.
China’s Pinduoduo, one of the largest online retailers, was
included in the list in 2019 and has continued to be listed since then.
Alibaba’s Taobao, cloud-storage platform Baidu Wangpan,
e-commerce service provider DHgate.com are also still on the list.
Nine physical markets in China, known for manufacturing,
distributing, and selling counterfeit goods, are included.
Picture Credit: Alizilia