© 2016 MarkMonitor Inc. All rights reserved.
Successful Enforcement Strategies in
Chinese Marketplaces
Trevor Robbins
Brand Protection Analyst, MarkMonitor
Why is the Chinese market important?
Opportunities and challenges
Best practices for brand protection and effective enforcement
Tips for avoiding and resolving enforcement issues
Agenda
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Chinese Internet economy:
• Over 667 million Internet users
# of Internet users outnumbers the entire U.S. population 2 to 1
• 48% of all Internet users worldwide
e-Commerce sales in China:
• Chinese online shoppers currently number more than 361 Million
• Online sales outpaced those of the U.S., the long time leader in
online shopping
Why is the Chinese Market Important?
3 Source: CIW, China Internet Watch, “CIW China Internet Insights 2015.” 2015. PDF file.
The Largest in Asian e-Commerce Landscape
Know Where To Focus Your Efforts
Why is the Chinese Market Important?
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NORTH
KOREA
JAPAN
LAOS
VIETNAM
MALAYSIA
Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore
eBay MY
eBay PH
eBay SG
Sulit (PH)
Taiwan
Ruten
China
Alibaba
Aliexpress
Alibaba China
DH Gate
DIYTrade
eBay Hong Kong
ECVV
Global Sources
Made-in-China
JD.com
PaiPai
Taobao
TMall
Tradetang
Yahoo! Hong Kong
Japan
Amazon Japan
Rakuten Auction
Rakuten Ichiba
Yahoo! Auction
Yahoo! Shopping
Vietnam
Chodientu
CHINA
NEPAL
MYANMAR
THAILAND
NORTH
KOREA
SOUTH
KOREA JAPAN
TAIWAN
CAMBODIA
LAOS
VIETNAM
PHILIPPINES
MALAYSIA
Major local purchasing power, high growth and potential
World’s workshop for Legitimate and Counterfeit goods
The production and sale of counterfeit goods is a global, multi-
billion dollar problem and one that has serious economic
ramifications for businesses and consumers
Counterfeit sales represent more than 8% of all global trade
Chinese Market: Opportunities and Challenges
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Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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Build a strong IP portfolio
Importance of regional monitoring and enforcement
Leverage local partner expertise
Understand scope and prioritize enforcement
Build a strong IP portfolio
Register trademarks in All relevant regions and classes
• Cover all variations of the mark
Be prepared to meet country-specific requirements
• Access to original copies
• Document preparation
Provide proof of authorization to use trademarks of any brands
registered under a different company name
Register trademarks prior to launch of new products in each
class and region targeted to promote or protect your brand
Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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Build a strong IP portfolio (cont.)
Engage with local resources to verify strength of trademark rights
Maintain an accessible reference library of copyrighted imagery
for both past and present products
Maintain an updated patent portfolio to complement copyright
and trademark enforcement efforts
Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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Understand the scope of your underlying problem
Disrupt the counterfeiters, become a hard target
• Regularly delist to significantly reduce the volume of infringing listings
• Categorize remaining listings by counterfeit, grey market, or legitimate
Prioritize and escalate enforcement for persistent sellers
• High-value targets
• Controlled buys to identify supplier
• Understanding marketplace demerit systems
• Marketplace ‘banned-lists’
Understand scope and prioritize enforcement
Understanding Individual Marketplace Policies Is Vital
Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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Regional monitoring and enforcement
Prepare to constantly evolve your enforcement strategy
Adapt internal processes to specific marketplace requirements
and enforcement guidelines
Understand your distribution partners and affiliates in each
marketplace
Maintain separate goals and strategies for addressing grey
market versus counterfeit issues
Set realistic goals that prioritize making a counterfeit version of
your product hard to find by consumers
Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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Regional monitoring and enforcement (cont.)
Utilize local, professional, native speakers for review
Escalate unresolved issues outside the standard IPR process
• Remember, being too aggressive can result in additional scrutiny
and removal time for all of your requests
Leverage intelligence gained from monitoring and enforcement
for valuable insights into developing marketplaces
Be both flexible and vigilant, creative and calculated
Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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Leverage local partner expertise
Leveraging a recognized partner in brand protection helps build
trust with sites and improves compliance rates
A partner can also:
Help you understand local enforcement complexities of the marketplace
Leverage their relationships with the marketplaces—established and
strengthened over many years
Help you succeed with typical enforcement issues, as well as unique
problems that require a customized approach
Brand Protection and Enforcement Strategies
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A global brand was trademarked in China for a product the
owner didn’t make, in a class they had not already registered in
before, by an infringer.
A brand lapsed in securing their renewal certificates and change
of address documentation, and lost the ability to enforce.
An emerging brand keeps us up-to-date with new product
launches and maintains access to historical images. We are
helping each other to maintain the best possible relationship with
Chinese marketplaces.
Potential Scenarios
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Chinese Marketplaces represent a tremendous revenue
opportunity for your business
Don’t get discouraged with challenges – rather acquire expertise
for how to manage them
Find a partner to guide you and help you navigate this landscape
Leverage best practices for local enforcement
Summary
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Questions?
Featured Speaker
Trevor Robbins
Brand Protection Analyst
MarkMonitor
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Thank You!
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