Wenko managing director Niklas Köllner repeatedly discovers items on the Temu online marketplace that are deceptively similar to products from his own range. He can hardly take effective action against product pirates. Like Köllner, other entrepreneurs also complain that counterfeits of their branded products are offered on the Chinese platform with little consequence.
A year and a half after Temu launched in Germany, the online marketplace is becoming a problem for local companies. “Platforms like Temu offer products that often seem too good to be true,” says the general manager of the brand association, Patrick Kammerer. “These platforms are also a gateway for product counterfeits that cause immense economic damage. We hear that again and again from our members.” The activities of such platforms are a major challenge, especially for medium-sized businesses.
Temu had 92 million users in September
The EU Commission suspects Temu of not playing according to European rules. At the end of October, the Brussels authorities initiated proceedings against the Chinese because, among other things, they suspected that the marketplace was not taking enough action against illegal plagiarism. According to the EU Commission, Temu reported 92 million monthly users in the EU in September.
One of the medium-sized companies affected is Wenko. All the registered intellectual property rights in the area of product design hardly protect the household goods manufacturer from Hilden on Temu. His company has reported around 400 cases so far, says Wenko boss Köllner – a universal radiator hook alone more than 100 times.
The pliers manufacturer Knipex also reports massive problems. Since July 2023, the Wuppertal-based company has discovered more than 220 legal violations on Temu for six products such as pipe cutters and grippers. “At Temu, property rights are constantly being violated. That’s pretty bold,” says managing director Ralf Putsch. According to him, Knipex’s advertising images were often used, just without the company logo.
“Enforcement of the law is effectively impossible”
Kammerer from the Brand Association explains the legal situation: “If a brand owner discovers a counterfeit product of his own brand at an online retailer, he can report this to the platform operator.” Temu and others are under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA ) then obliged to remove the product from the site.
From Kammerer’s point of view, however, the problem is that content that is already known to be illegal can be uploaded again. “The DSA has not yet sanctioned this. A mistake.” So counterfeit products always end up on Temu. There is generally no marketplace liability. “Consumers are deceived, brand owners are defrauded,” says Kammerer.
Many people can tell a thing or two about it. Knipex, for example, repeatedly asked Temu to remove the items from its marketplace. The portal complied, but the articles could be found again shortly afterwards. Either from the same dealer or from another dealer. Putsch believes that anyone who runs something that constantly violates the law must be held liable. Knipex had similar problems with Amazon years ago, but things have gotten better.
And the dealers of the fakes? That’s where things get even more complicated. In principle, brand owners could take action if providers offer counterfeit products, says Kammerer from the brand association. “For foreign providers, international legal assistance is necessary. This is highly complex and lengthy, especially in Asia. Enforcement of the law is therefore effectively impossible.”
Temu sees himself as being unfairly criticized
Temu denies the allegations. “We immediately investigate reports of possible violations and take the necessary measures, for example by deleting offers and images,” says a company spokesman. Rights holders can submit their complaints via a portal; 99 percent of applications are resolved quickly. Sellers who repeatedly or seriously violate these rules would be permanently banned from the platform.
Temu says it has continually improved its efforts to protect intellectual property. This also serves “the long-term success and growth of our platform”.
E-commerce expert Alexander Graf assesses the situation differently. According to him, the operators of online marketplaces have no genuine interest in changing anything. “You make money from selling the products. If they take a product off the platform, people will buy it somewhere else.” Graf fears negative consequences for the European manufacturing industry if companies and customers are not better protected legally. Then the decline will continue.
Customs is completely overwhelmed by the flood of goods from China
So what to do about the counterfeits? The German Trade Association complains that retailers who offer plagiarism are often inaccessible to local authorities. Therefore, a responsible economic operator based in the EU must be named who is liable for misconduct by companies from outside the EU.
The brand association also calls for a political commitment to protecting intellectual property. “Anyone who violates these protective rights must be punished accordingly. Other countries like China specifically use such rights as a tool to promote their own companies and products,” says Kammerer.
And he points to another problem: “The flood of small shipments is overwhelming the customs authorities.” Only around 0.01 percent of shipments are checked. “There is almost no check. This means: We have to strengthen customs personnel and better equip them technically. (dpa)