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- The right of the owner: in the Russian Federation they want to simplify the removal of counterfeits from marketplaces
The right of the owner: in the Russian Federation they want to simplify the removal of counterfeits from marketplaces
Russia wants to simplify the removal of counterfeit goods on online marketplaces. It is proposed that marketplaces should be obliged to remove such goods from sale at the request of the right holder. Six industry associations have addressed this initiative to the Cabinet of Ministers, the measure is asked to be enshrined in the forthcoming law "On Platform Economy". Now fakes from online marketplaces are removed manually, but then you have to sue sellers. The share of counterfeits in many segments of online trade reaches 30%, market participants note. But marketplaces emphasize that they already take the necessary measures to combat counterfeiting, so additional regulation is redundant.
How to fight counterfeiting on marketplaces
Right holders may allow to block the sale of counterfeit goods through online marketplaces in a pre-trial procedure. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was asked by six organizations - the Association of Manufacturers and Sellers of Home Appliances and Electronics RATEK, the Association of Animated Cinema, the Association of Children's Goods Industry Enterprises (AIDT), the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises (APKIT), the Association of Manufacturers of Branded Trade Marks "Rusbrand" and the Association of Direct Sales - to introduce such a provision into the law "On Platform Economy", which is being developed. Izvestia has familiarized itself with their appeal.
The number of disputes and conflicts on the grounds of sale of counterfeit goods is growing, according to the collective letter of the industry associations. Therefore, the authors propose to create in the information systems of marketplaces personal accounts of right holders, through which they could file complaints to the operators of trading platforms. Based on this, pages with counterfeit products could be blocked without a court decision. In addition, the associations want to introduce mandatory labeling of sellers who have confirmed their rights to the results of intellectual activity.
However, the system of labeling goods and their sellers on marketplaces should not be limited to this, the public believe. Thus, they propose to mark foreign goods and foreign sellers, unreliable traders (bankrupt legal entities; structures that have tax violations and do not provide tax reports), things not intended for sale to minors (age marking), and much more.
The bill is undergoing a regulatory impact assessment procedure, noted in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko. The document contains a wide range of measures aimed at resolving the existing issues in terms of differentiating the responsibility of intermediary digital platforms and companies-sellers, service providers; mandatory pre-trial review and other requirements are introduced, they added.
The bill "On Platform Economy" is scheduled to be submitted to the government in February 2025. The State Duma is expected to adopt it in the spring session.
Blocking counterfeit sellers on marketplaces
The problem that the animation industry has been struggling with for many years is the high level of piracy and the production of counterfeit products: popular cartoon characters often become objects of misuse by unscrupulous sellers of children's goods, mainly toys and clothes, the Animation Film Association told Izvestia.
- Often such products are sold on marketplaces. Over the past year, the number of lawsuits from copyright holders to sellers is only growing, and platforms are involved in the case as a third party. Most often, marketplaces refer to the fact that partners, i.e. sellers, independently form and place goods, and the Civil Code allows them to limit themselves to the assurances of the counterparty about the presence of all necessary licenses and permits. Now there is a mechanism for filing a complaint to the marketplace, but for this purpose it is necessary to attach a list of necessary documents each time, and there are hundreds of such complaints," the association said.
The mechanism of the personal cabinet of the right holder would simplify and speed up the procedure of filing a complaint, and the possibility of out-of-court response to it would reduce financial losses, believe the representatives of the organization.
RATEK Association is concerned about the problem of counterfeit, which is largely distributed on the sites, its representative Anton Guskov told Izvestia. The proposed measures will help to promptly solve this problem, he believes. It is also urgent to solve the problem of unscrupulous sellers, which are difficult to identify to the consumer because of "tipped" reviews and evaluations, the expert believes. In his opinion, the introduction of mandatory marking of marketplace partners will increase the transparency of their activities and reduce the risks of unscrupulous behavior.
In 2023, according to the Association of Children's Goods Industry Enterprises, the share of counterfeit of such products amounted to 30%. "Pirates constantly counterfeit the most profitable goods with heroes - toys (including dolls, figures). The goods produced by them can be seen, in particular, on marketplaces. Pirates are focused not on quality, but on the speed of creation of goods. For example, after the release of the full-length film Cheburashka, the platforms were flooded with copies of this hero," the organization's research says.
- Digital platforms are already taking all necessary measures to combat counterfeiting - this is an established practice in the market. To control the quality and safety of goods, marketplaces create and implement many mechanisms to protect right holders. For example, Wildberries in 2022 launched the "Digital Arbitration" service, which allows brand owners to contact sellers directly and check the documents for the goods, - parry in the Association of Digital Platforms. - If the seller cannot provide documents, the marketplace hides such goods from the online display. Ozon also uses its own anti-counterfeiting tool - "Brand Cabinet". It allows rights holders to control and block non-compliant products.
In 2023, marketplaces together with the largest rights holders developed and adopted on the basis of the FAS and the Association of Corporate Lawyers (UCJR) bona fide practices to combat counterfeiting, the association adds.
- These proposals look redundant: digital platforms are already responsible as an information intermediary for the sale of counterfeit goods and use additional tools to control the quality and safety of products, - said a representative of Wildberries.
The marketplace is proactively participating in the experiment with Rosakkreditation - more than 12 million goods have already been verified by the agency, he added.
Additional measures to combat counterfeiting
In general, the proposals of colleagues in one form or another are taken into account in the bill, and some of the proposed amendments have already been implemented in the current legislation or in the functionality of sites, said the president of the Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT) Artem Sokolov.
- Separate laws regulate the procedure for handling personal data and labeling: all marketplaces are participants in the turnover of labeled goods and transmit data to the "Honest Mark" system," he said. - The platforms have a specially developed procedure and forms for appeals of right holders. At the same time, we believe that a more attentive attitude of marketplaces to documents on confirmation of conformity and labeling requirements will have a positive impact on the e-commerce market.
The current version of the bill at the moment really needs to be supplemented with the norms aimed at combating counterfeiting, says Igor Chuvstvinov, leading counsel of the intellectual property practice of the EBR law firm.
- Unfortunately, the draft law does not solve a sufficiently large number of issues related to the fight against counterfeiting," he said. - The right holder is interested in creating the infrastructure of a personal account. To date, such regulations are already in place in China.
According to him, a mechanism for monitoring goods with signs of counterfeiting, similar to the one used in European regulation - DSA - would be useful for them. Also, the draft law needs a more detailed procedure for considering complaints from right holders about product cards. Now they have to go to court every time with a demand to block the card or stop selling the goods - this legal process takes a long time, during which the goods manage to completely disperse, says the lawyer.
- The number of goods sold through marketplaces is growing, the sites can not always respond to the increase in the sale of counterfeit goods, - says patent attorney, managing partner of the company "Zuikov and Partners" Sergei Zuikov. - But, undoubtedly, a number of the proposed measures are unnecessary, for example, labeling of bankrupt companies or companies with tax violations.
It is extremely important that not only Internet business organizations, but also other players be involved in the discussion of the initiatives being developed, added Boris Yedidin, deputy chairman of the commission for legal support of the digital economy of the Moscow branch of the Association of Lawyers of Russia.
