Consumer ISG - Holiday Guide 2021 - Flipbook - Page 13
The Hogan Lovells Holiday Guide 2021
Focus on Russia:
Protecting your IP during the
holiday season: Pay attention
to online marketplaces
Ekaterina Kiseleva and Alexandra Bakhtiozina, Moscow
When the holiday season is just around
the corner, we all start preparing presents
for loved ones and try to find the most convenient
offers. Online marketplaces might have just what
we want: a variety of products, delivery options,
flexible discounts and different brands
(from international giants to local indie brands).
Russia’s eCommerce sector and, in particular, the role
of online marketplaces, has increased significantly in
recent years, especially, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
when people were deprived of the ability to shop in
person. Russian eCommerce consists of different
international platforms, such as eBay, AliExpress,
Amazon and Etsy, and large Russian marketplaces
which have shown rapid growth over the last 5 years,
namely, Ozon, Wildberries and Yandex.Market.
Increases in the eCommerce sector and online
marketplace development has also meant a growth of
counterfeit products, including clear counterfeit and look
alike goods. This holiday season we can expect a large
number of infringements, especially, regarding children’s
toys and ready-made gift sets. It will be important for
brands to keep a close look at online marketplaces
and social networks (where sometimes goods are also
offered for sale) to protect their brands’ exclusive
rights, revenues and, more importantly, reputation.
Below are some brief recommendations
on how to be prepared:
1. M
onitor the most popular marketplaces. Most
marketplaces have an easy search system allowing
right holders to find counterfeit products.
Additionally, it might be effective to look into the
social networks (such as VKontakte and Instagram).
2. M
ost of the Russian marketplaces and social networks
will delete the infringing offers at the request of the
right holder, thus, it is reasonable to approach them
rather than to try to reach out to every infringer.
3. M
ost of the counterfeit goods are produced in foreign
countries (such as China, Taiwan, etc.) In order to
prevent import and further circulation of counterfeit
goods, right holders can demonstrate their interest in
protecting their IP to the authorities by participating in
police seminars, registering trademarks in the Customs
Register, etc. In this way, a brand can increase the
chances that police, and customs will be pro-active
and will quickly inform the brand infringements.
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