E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS Lazada and Shopee have signed an agreement establishing a procedure for dealing with counterfeit products on their platforms, in coordination with brand owners.
The two companies on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with brands in an online event organized in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
“This MoU establishes a code of practice among online marketplaces, as well as an efficient notice and takedown procedure, to intensify our fight against the sale of counterfeit and pirated goods over the internet,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said in a statement.
Brands and industry groups that signed the partnership include Unilever Philippines, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Philippines, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., Castrol Ltd. the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the Consumer Healthcare Philippines, Inc., and the Philippine Retailers Association.
The memorandum outlines a code of conduct on how to address the sale of counterfeit and pirated goods online, with platforms agreeing to remove ads, posts, or offers without “unreasonable or undue delay.”
Brand owners will have access to a “notice and takedown” procedure when they find that their intellectual property rights have been infringed.
Both rights owners and platforms also agreed on preventive measures, including the active monitoring of online ads.
The partnership is a self-policing measure to prevent delays, but does not indicate penalties for platforms allowing intellectual property rights infringers. — Jenina P. Ibañez
