E-commerce sites must guard intellectual property or be shut in China
China plans to tighten oversight of e-commerce platforms like Alibaba Group over the infringement of intellectual property rights.
Companies would lose their trading licenses if they fail to deal with serious violations of IP rights by vendors on their platforms under a legal amendment being reviewed by Chinese policymakers, reports Nikkei Asia.
Straitstimes quotes Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who once said that it was difficult to root out fake goods on the company’s platforms because they were of high quality.
“The problem is that the fake products today, they make better quality, better prices than the real products, the real names,” he said at the time.
Chinese e-commerce companies are no stranger to IP disputes. Taobao, owned by Alibaba Group Holding, was added to the U.S. government’s annual “Notorious Markets” list in 2016 and has remained on it for five consecutive years.
Chinese authorities have been paying more attention to the protection of IP rights in recent years. During China-U.S. trade talks in 2019, China said that it would raise penalties for violations of IP rights, and that it was aiming to reduce frequent IP violations by 2022.
On the other hand, this new proposed amendment looks like yet another Chinese government attempt to secure control over IT companies and internet business.
More Amazon news
Amazon launches a LIVE streaming channel
LIVE product showcase by Amazon Live-streaming videos can drive sales, allow a brand to interact with their customers in real time and reach more shoppers Amazon recently launched a streaming channel Amazon Live, reports Engadget. The new channel...
Amazon invests in a self-driving car startup
Driverless system for Amazon vehicles Amazon could use this technology for self-driving cargo and courier vehicles, reducing its need for human drivers and speeding up delivery times Amazon is clearly interested in autonomy between its delivery drone...
Should you avoid middleman companies?
Deliveries from China for Amazon FBA Speaking of delivery services from China for Amazon FBA, which qualities a middleman company must possess to add value to the shipping process? Many foreign companies, operating in China, in reality turn out to be...