Strengthening and continuation of measures aimed at eliminating counterfeit products from Japanese and foreign B2C and C2C online sales platforms

Committee:
Intellectual Property Rights
status:
No progress
Published:
Foreign-owned B2C online sales platforms and some Japanese-owned C2C online sales platforms are making efforts to detect and remove counterfeit products by analyzing image information using computer systems and AI, and by maintaining a human control system based on cooperation with rights holders. However, counterfeit products and the ways they are sold are constantly evolving, and rights holders and consumers are able to detect them more quickly than the online platform operators. Furthermore, it is difficult to assert that AI or computerized systems for detecting and removing counterfeit products will work effectively. In particular, when it comes to "AI," it seems that its capabilities remain limited for now, and therefore the extent of cooperation with rights holders and other measures such as strengthening identity verification, collecting complaints from purchasers, utilizing infringement information obtained from removal requests from right holders, and blacklisting malicious users, as mentioned above must be reevaluated.

Recommendations

  • To establish relationships between the right holders and online platform operators, the government regularly calls on operators who have not yet participated in forums for dialogue where online platform operators and rights holders discuss measures to eradicate counterfeit products. This measure should be continued by the government in the future, especially with foreign-owned operators. Exchange of opinions should thus be conducted regarding the measures to be taken, particularly in relation to the elimination of commercial practices on each online selling platforms and the pursuit of an understanding of rights holders.