Greeting card creators across the UK have recently been made aware of thousands of their cards being advertised and sold without their permission on the Chinese online marketplace Temu, amounting to blatant copyright infringement. Temu sellers have targeted a range of well-known greeting card creators, as well as an array of smaller, independent creators who market their designs on UK based websites such as Etsy, Thorful and Moonpig.
Temu, owned by PDD Holdings, allows third party sellers to advertise and sell their products through the Temu website and app. It was founded in 2022 and has since gained mass popularity for its access to low cost products. It has recently been valued at $150 billion.
While the copycat goods have been marketed on Temu, it is worth noting that it is third party sellers who are unlawfully using the designs and selling them through their storefronts. Sellers will access designs from the original creators’ online storefronts then quickly amend the images and post them as their own on Temu. A recent EU case involving Amazon and Louboutin demonstrates that it is possible to hold online marketplaces, like Temu, liable for the infringement of valid intellectual property rights if they fail to take proactive steps to stop the infringement or actively facilitate it.
So far, Temu have been responsive to takedown requests from creators whose copyright has been infringed, in a likely effort to avoid liability. The BBC reported today that a small business owner from Caernafon, Wales has been successful in getting her designs removed from Temu. In their response, Temu stated that it had “acted quickly when potential infringements were reported, and its goal was to protect brands and artist rights.”
We, at McDaniels Law, have been working closely with the Greeting Card Association (GCA) to help its members protect their designs from infringement on Temu. So far, we have written to Temu on behalf of one GCA member, which resulted in a large number of infringing cards being removed from Temu. We have also curated a takedown guide which members of the GCA can use to help navigate their way through Temu’s online intellectual property infringement report portal. This is due to be circulated to all GCA members momentarily.
It is important that creators have access to the tools to allow them to remove infringing products on websites like Temu, which offer lower cost alternatives to the original product. The sale of infringing products has huge implications on creators in industries such as the greeting card sector. Often, the purchase of an infringing item will directly stop the sale of the original item marketed by the original creator, which leads to a direct loss of revenue.
If you notice that there are products being advertised on Temu that infringe on your intellectual property rights, you can report this directly to Temu through their report portal. Alternatively, you can contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
