Brand Protection & Content Protection
-Takedown Guides-
Alibaba Group
阿里巴巴集团
Alibaba IP Protection
A Guide To The Alibaba IP Takedown Webform
Alibaba Group (阿里巴巴集团) – the dominate force of Chinese ecommerce. The Group is a collection of companies and platforms spanning ecommerce, cloud computing, e-payments, video streaming and much more. The ecommerce arm of Alibaba includes Taobao, Tmall and AliExpress etc. After conquering ecommerce in China, Alibaba is increasingly making international moves, most notably in the ASEAN region by purchasing the Lazada Group. Click here for a full guide covering the Alibaba Group.
This guide is specific to the standalone takedown webform. The recommended approach is to use the Alibaba IPP Platform, click here for a guide on registering for the Platform and submitting complaints via the standard approach. However, if the reporter wishes to proceed using the webform and not registering with Alibaba for the additional benefits, continue with this guide.
The focus of this guide is how-to submit a notification for intellectual property infringement using the standalone takedown webform. Rightsholders are restricted to submitting 10 infringing URLs at a time and slower takedown time. To access the webform, click here.
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Takedown Form
To note, rightsholders registered with the IPP Platform cannot use the webform for filing submissions. This webform can also be used in a pinch for a rightsholder not yet registered with the IPP Platform but have observed infringements at a critical period. Although the takedown time is generally slower using the webform, a one-off notice may lead to an overall faster removal of the infringement(s) and then the rightsholder can proceed to set-up an account on the IPP Platform for the long-term usage.
My Complaint
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To start the submission the reporter must enter their name, this is in regard to the reporter and not the IPR owner. The name should be the company name of the ‘IPR Owner’ or ‘Agent’, unless the IPR owner does not have a company and is the reporter. An email address is requested, this will not be shared with the infringer, only with Alibaba. In the second half of the webform, another email address can be used which will be provided to the infringer. It is advised to use separate email accounts for Alibaba and the infringer.
Under ‘Complaint Information’ the reporter must select the relevant IPR type and complaint reason. Hovering over the ‘i’ icon provides information to the reporter on what each complaint reason refers to. It is advised to read this information carefully as the submission will be rejected if the reporter is not accurate. This will result in the submission having to be completed in its’ entirety, delaying the removal of the infringing content. As mentioned, only 10 listings can be reported via this webform, whereas up to 300 can be submitted for registered users of the IPP Platform. The final box in this section must be completed with information for the case handler to identify the infringing type complained of.
IPR Information
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Dependent upon the IPR type selected above, this section will dynamically deliver the relevant boxes to complete the submission. For example, if trademark is selected with the counterfeit infringement type, the reporter must supply the ‘trademark registration number’, ‘IPR name’ and ‘location of IPR registration’. Also, the reporter will be supplied with two boxes for email addresses.
The final section has a single checkbox, this must be selected to agree to the terms of the submission, however, agreeing to the statements has legal consequences and should be read carefully. To finish, click the ‘submit’ button in Alibaba orange, then the notice is sent for the infringing content to be removed, pending review.
Click here for information on understanding how the Alibaba merchant rating system works.