Cooperation Agreement Between DGIP and Tokopedia to Combat Counterfeit Goods

The Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) – Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights signed an MoU agreement with Tokopedia on September 29, 2022, to combat counterfeit goods in its platform. This agreement is crucial to protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Indonesia, as it was noted that counterfeit goods in the marketplace cause financial loss for the customers and also affected the marketplace’s reputation.

In this agreement, both parties agreed to increase their stakeholders’ IPR protection awareness and also agreed on the exchange of data and/or information for IP enforcement. In addition, they will also work together in law enforcement, and increasing the capacity of human resources in both institutions. This agreement will be in force within three years of signing.

This agreement is one of the government’s strategies to remove Indonesia`s status from the Priority Watch List (PWL) as stated on the Special 301 Reports issued by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on April 28, 2022. PWL country is judged by the USTR as having “serious intellectual property rights deficiencies” that require increased USTR attention.

Previously, on February 17, 2022, the USTR also released the findings of its 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List). The Notorious Markets List highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. Unfortunately, Tokopedia is included in the list.

As reported on the Notorious Markets List, Tokopedia is one of Indonesia’s largest e-commerce markets. It serves as a platform for third-party vendors to post listings, and the site offers a vast range of goods, including clothes, electronics, and textbooks. Right holders report high rates and volumes of counterfeit clothing, cosmetics and accessories, pirated textbooks, and other pirated English-language materials on this platform.

Some right holders have recognized improvements in Tokopedia’s notice-and-takedown system and its increased engagement with brands to address concerns about counterfeits on its platform. However, other right holders believe that Tokopedia’s system is still not effective, as it still requires more information than necessary, does not result in the expeditious removal of counterfeit listings, and does not allow right holders to track the status or result of their notices.

Other concern includes ineffective seller vetting and a penalty point system for the repeating counterfeiters which make it even harder for the right holders to identify multiple counterfeit goods before Tokopedia can take down such goods. Some recommendation for Tokopedia is to also continue improving its proactive keyword, price, and image filtering technology to effectively detect and remove counterfeit listings before they are shown to consumers.

#counterfeit #piracy #counterfeitgoods #marketplace #intellectualproperty #IP #IPenforcement #trademark #brandprotection #copyright #infringement

Source: www.dgip.go.id

Photo illustration by www.istockphoto.com

Nugra & Partners – Intellectual Property Consultant

For More Information Please Contact:

Johana Listyorini

Partner

johana_listyorini@yahoo.co.id