Counterfeit Policy
About this policy
This policy is designed to inform users and third parties, including law enforcement authorities and intellectual property owners (“brand owners”) about how we act against counterfeit goods.
Our actions are guided by this policy, by our broader terms of service in the relevant country, and by applicable laws.
Counterfeit goods are bad for our users and our business. They can be unsafe and cause physical harm. They are often distributed by organized crime; buyers who have contact with such criminals are therefore also at risk from them.
Summary of our counterfeit policy
We do not allow counterfeits on our platforms.
We work with brand owners and law enforcement to remove counterfeits from ONLINEEXCHANGEAPP;
We may take proactive actions to prevent counterfeit goods from being listed;
We try to prevent counterfeiters and/or repeat offenders from selling on ONLINEEXCHANGEAPP.
Our policy: what we do and don’t remove
We take down listings of goods that we believe, in good faith, are counterfeit.
We may believe that a good is counterfeit because of signals and information we collect and analyse ourselves.
We may believe that a good is counterfeit because it has been notified to us by brand owners.
However, we will carry out a certain number of checks and will refuse to take listings down if we have reason to doubt the validity of the brand owner’s claim.
We take down listings for items that breach brand owner trademark in jurisdictions where the trademark is registered.
We do not take down listings of original or genuine goods that are being sold in violation of a brand owner’s distribution agreements.
Our policy: what we do proactively to find and block counterfeits
We aren’t brand experts, so we rely mainly on brands to tell us what is fake and what is not.
However, we also try to identify counterfeits before they have been notified to us by brand owners.
Our policy: what we do against repeat offenders
We close the accounts of users who we believe have repeatedly offered counterfeit goods for sale.
We may believe that a user has offered counterfeit goods for sale based on signals and information we collect and analyze ourselves.
We may believe that a user has offered counterfeit goods for sale based on notifications from trusted brand owners.
Notice and takedown (NTD) process
Our primary method for fighting against counterfeit items on our platforms is reacting to notices from brand owners. This is because
we do not have the expertise to identify counterfeit goods ourselves; and
the primary responsibility for enforcing intellectual property rights rests with the brand owners and not with us.
Brand owners should contact us through the Web contact form that is specifically for the purpose of counterfeit notices, available through the help pages of the relevant country’s web site or app. Local teams may also allow brands to use email, in addition to the Zendesk forms, for a transitional period.
We aim to remove listings according to this policy within 72 hours of receipt of a notice.
Communication with users
We aim to be as transparent as we can with users about action we take to enforce our policy. It is not always possible to provide a high level of detail, because doing so could help professional counterfeiters to circumvent the measures we put in place.
However, in general we commit to:
Making sure users have easy access to this counterfeit policy;
Taking into account feedback sent to us by users (e.g. reporting that they have been sold counterfeit goods).
Telling sellers if we have taken action against one of their listings or their account, and why, clearly and specifically;
Offering sellers the opportunity to dispute action taken by us (e.g. saying that the good is genuine) – notably by contacting the brand owner directly via the email address provided by the brand owner;
Assist users who feel they have been deceived into buying counterfeit goods by advising them to report this to the relevant brands and offering contact details.
Communication with other parties
We also aim to be transparent with interested third parties, especially law enforcement authorities (LEAs) and brand owners and their representatives.
In general, we commit to:
Ensuring that brand owners and LEAs have easy access to our counterfeit policy;
Acknowledging receipt of all communications and confirming any actions we take;
Making our best efforts to facilitate contact between brand owners and users in cases of disputes and informing them of actions we take;
Making use of brand-specific training materials provided by brand owners;
What we expect from our users
Our users’ trust is essential to our business. We aim to communicate as openly as we can about what actions we take against alleged counterfeit goods, and deal fairly with disputes.
Users should be aware that counterfeit goods are illegal and are harmful to legitimate businesses. As is the case with any illegal goods, sellers offering counterfeit goods can be prosecuted. We therefore expect our users to avoid knowingly trading such goods.
We expect sellers to act in good faith when communicating with us and with brand owners in the context of this policy.
What we expect from brand owners and/or their representatives
We value our relationships with brand owners. We need their help to keep counterfeit goods off of our services. We commit to working with them constructively and in good faith.
Brand owners should be aware that for ONLINEEXCHANGEAPP, acting on their notices can create legal risk – especially in cases where the goods offered in listings that they notify to us are not in fact counterfeit. We therefore expect brand owners also to act in good faith, treat us fairly, and to take responsibility for their actions, which can have negative consequences for both our users and for us at ONLINEEXCHANGEAPP.
We expect brand owners and/or their representatives to designate a point of contact for us.
We require that notices sent by brand owners alleging that goods listed on ONLINEEXCHANGEAPP are counterfeits meet our standards (see notice standards below). This is to ensure that we can act quickly and effectively in response.
We carry out checks on the notices that brand owners send us, and we keep records of instances where we have reason to doubt the validity of thee notice. The more reliable a brand owner’s notices are, the better our cooperation will be. In extreme cases, if we believe a brand owner’s notices are not a reliable indication of the legality of the goods in question, we may cease cooperation.
In cases where our checks give us cause to doubt the validity of a brand owner’s claims, we will consider the notice in which the doubtful claim was made to be void, regardless of how many listings were notified.
Similarly, if a notice itself does not fully meet the notice standards set out below, we will consider it void.
We commit to explaining such decisions clearly and specifically to the brand owner. The brand owner is then free to re-submit the notice without the problematic items and/or in conformity with our notice standards.
We expect brand owners to treat our users fairly too. This includes providing contact details for the users to use to alert them to problematic listings or to complain about actions we may have taken in response to a brand owner’s notice. We also expect brand owners to act in good faith and behave fairly with our users in cases of dispute.
Dispute resolution
ONLINEEXCHANGEAPP will act in good faith in response to claims made by brand owners and users. Ultimately, however, the brand owners and users concerned are in a better position than we are to agree on whether an item is counterfeit. We are happy to facilitate dialogue between brand owners and our users in cases of dispute, and we avoid intervening in such disputes.
In cases where users communicate directly with brand owners, please let us know if and when you have come to an agreement.
Standards for notices
In order for us to take action against listings that a brand owner alleges to be counterfeit, the brand owner’s notice must meet the following standards:
Identification & legal authority
The notice must contain:
Company name;
Company address;
Evidence of brand rights. This should be trademark registration for the relevant local market(s). An Indian Trade mark registration is acceptable for the EEA, but a WIPO filing for worldwide rights is not. As set out in “Our policy: what we take down” above, in cases where a trademark registration does not cover the jurisdiction of the relevant listing, we will not take it down.
Evidence of legal authority to act on behalf of a brand owner (if a third party agent acting for brand owner);
Email address that will be shared with users who wish to dispute the notification.
Notification
The notice must contain
URLs and/or listing IDs;
A brief description/justification of the alleged infringement (e.g. “non-existent product line”, “fake brand protection tags”, etc) corresponding to each listing.
