successful enforcement strategies in chinese marketplaces · successful enforcement strategies in...

© 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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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!

For information on MarkMonitor solutions, services and

complimentary educational events:

• Contact via email:

[email protected]

• Visit our website at:

www.markmonitor.com

• Contact via phone:

US: 1 (800) 745 9229

Europe: +44 (0) 203 206 2220

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