Even as its fate in the United States remains to be decided, TikTok remains one of the most popular social media platforms. TikTok Shop, an online shopping platform within the application, allows users to create a mini retail storefront within the application and offer products for sale. TikTok Shop has proved to be an instant success with users, featuring more than 15 million active sellers and 47 million shoppers in 2024.
This popularity brings with it rampant copyright and trademark infringement. Between July 2023 and June 2024, the platform claims to have refused to list over 5.2 million products in TikTok Shop and outright deactivated 4,804 stores for violating its
intellectual property policies.
Given these statistics about counterfeit and infringing items, brands are understandably concerned. How do brand owners protect their intellectual property rights? One option is by submitting takedown notices directly through TikTok’s platform.
On TikTok Shop, there are two methods for submitting takedown notices: the Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Report (the “IPR”) and the IP Protection Centre portal (the “IPPC”). Note that both these options are only available through TikTok’s desktop version.
At first glance, the IPR looks similar to takedown forms used by other platforms. Brand owners must identify themselves and otherwise provide a link to the infringing product and report the type of infringement. However, there are a few additional quirks that can complicate an otherwise straightforward report:
(1) If the reporting party is an attorney or authorized agent, they must provide a valid Power of Attorney for each request;
(2) The reporting party must provide detailed “proof of infringement” for each reported listing, such as a screenshot highlighting the unauthorized use of a trademark, side-by-side images of the brand’s intellectual property and the
infringing listing, and/or images overlayed with arrows pointing out counterfeit indications. Only 5 images may be uploaded per report; and
(3) The reporting party must provide copies of trademark and/or copyright registration certificates, if available, and images of the infringed work (if reporting a copyright infringement) for each request.
As a result, each report can only encompass a few infringing listings, and it can take a significant amount of time to put a single report together.
TikTok claims that it has over 1,400 “IP specialists” proactively blocking listings and responding to infringement reports. Nevertheless, the results generated from IPR reports are frequently inconsistent. Examples of this inconsistency can been seen in takedown requests we recently submitted on behalf of a client. A single IPR report against five different listings for identical instances of trademark infringement – with a single set of uploaded ownership documents, one power of attorney, and a single explanatory paragraph – received the following results:
1. Refused as the reviewer was unable to verify the client was the copyright owner (despite the fact that the report was based on trademark infringement, not copyright infringement).
2. Refused as TikTok was unable to determine whether the client was the rights
holder.
3. Refused due to an allegedly invalid Power of Attorney.
4. Listing successfully removed
5. Listing successfully removed.
The burdensome requirements of TikTok’s IPR and its inconsistent results can be a stumbling block for brand owners enforcing their rights on the platform. The better option is TikTok’s relatively new IP Protection Centre portal (“IPPC”). The IPPC operates as a central hub for brands and their agents to monitor for infringement, file takedown notices, and track the status of all notices and appeals in a user-friendly system. Yet, as of 2024, only 672 brands have utilized this effective new tool. As there are an estimated 15 million active sellers on TikTok Shop, brands enforcing through the IPPC are significantly outnumbered.
The initial setup of a brand account on the IPPC can be somewhat cumbersome. A brand profile requires official documentation such as a Certificate of Good Standing, business license, a letter assigning an Employer Identification Number, or an individual’s passport. It then takes up to two weeks for TikTok to authenticate the account, after which TikTok typically takes an additional 1-3 days to verify each piece of proof a brand may submit to support its claim of intellectual property rights (e.g., a Power of Attorney along with a trademark registration certificate, or a copyright registration certificate and image of the protected work). The good news is that once approved, this documentation never needs to be re-submitted.
Once a brand’s IPPC account is established, the IPPC provides very useful tools for addressing infringing activity. Instead of copying URL links for each infringing listing, brand owners or authorized agents can search within the TikTok Shop itself and simply select checkboxes next to the listings to be reported. There is no limit to how many listings can be included in a single report so long as the report relates to only one claimed trademark or copyright. Brand owners or agents can also track the status of all reports, track any appeals made by TikTok Store owners, and even receive contact information for any parties that appeal a report.
Both the IPR and IPPC methods can be effective for protecting brands’ trademark and copyrights on TikTok. Selecting the best option requires careful thought and understanding of their respective requirements and idiosyncrasies.
If your business is struggling to protect its rights on TikTok or TikTok Shop, contact Saunders & Silverstein LLP to discuss how we can help.
By: Matthew Saunders | msaunders@sandsip.com and Sarah Leighton | sleighton@sandsip.com
