Turn to the right: it was proposed to block fakes on marketplaces in three days

They want to reduce the period for blocking fakes on marketplaces to three days. Now it sometimes takes more than 40 days to remove them. The business proposed to introduce such a norm into the law "On the Platform Economy" that is being developed. This will protect buyers from counterfeiting, according to the authors of the initiative and experts. But if the product is recognized as genuine, the copyright holder will pay the seller a penalty — the cost of insurance starts from 500 thousand rubles.

Why do I need insurance against counterfeiting?

Copyright holders will be able to quickly — within up to three days — block the sale of fakes of their goods on marketplaces. To do this, they will simply need to contact the operator through their personal account on the site. The RATEK Association of Electronics Sellers and Manufacturers proposed to introduce such a provision in the draft law "On the Platform Economy" that is currently being prepared for the government. Izvestia got acquainted with its materials. Now this procedure often takes more than 40 days, market participants said.

— In order to apply to the court with a demand to stop sales, the copyright holder must file a claim with the marketplace. The time limit for responding to it is 30 days. The total period of consideration of a claim in court for blocking a counterfeit product card may take up to six months or more. During this time, unscrupulous sellers manage to sell several hundred or even thousands of counterfeit shipments," one of Izvestia's interlocutors added.

A special insurance should be a guarantee that brand owners will not abuse the right to blitz and that law-abiding sellers will not suffer due to an error or slip of the tongue, according to RATEK materials. Copyright holders will have to insure their liability to sellers and the marketplace, otherwise they will not be able to use quick blocking.

According to Anton Guskov, a representative of RATEK, the amount of insurance is currently being discussed, possibly it will amount to 500 thousand rubles, he did not rule out. Such a mechanism is already used in Russia when importing goods into the country: their inclusion in the Customs Register of Intellectual Property Objects (TROIS) allows copyright holders to prevent the import of fakes when crossing the customs border, he noted. But in order to be included in the TROIS, the copyright holder must make an insurance "deposit" (for € 10,000) to compensate for the importer's losses due to the unjustified suspension of shipments of goods, the expert explained.

The problem of counterfeiting on digital platforms is becoming more and more acute, said Kristina Mkrtchyan, Advisor to the Intellectual Property Practice at EBR Law Firm.

— According to IQ Technology research, the share of fakes in some categories of electronics has increased to 69%. The Russian Rights Turnover Center confirms that about 30% of counterfeit products are sold through marketplaces. At the same time, copyright holders today do not have effective tools to promptly block fakes, they are forced to go to court, which takes months, and counterfeit goods continue to be sold," she said.

For copyright holders, the opportunity to use a personal account and insurance is a way to protect their interests without lengthy litigation. This will allow you to download the title documents once, rather than attaching them to each complaint, which will greatly simplify the process, Kristina Mkrtchyan added. Protection against unfair behavior of copyright holders is provided for sellers on marketplaces. For ordinary customers, this means more guarantees for the purchase of original products and respect for consumer rights, the lawyer said.

The law "On the Platform Economy"

The draft law "On the Platform Economy" was developed in close cooperation with the business community, including representatives of commodity producers, participants in online and offline retail, the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko told Izvestia.

— The document sets out the responsibilities of platform operators such as the requirement to check sellers in government information systems. Platforms must take into account the availability of state registration certificates, certificates, and declarations of conformity in the product or service card. There should be information about whether this product is subject to labeling. It is needed to combat the illegal trafficking of goods and ensure their safety," Dmitry Grigorenko's office noted.

The operator must inform the buyer if the seller is a foreign person, they added. The document also provides for a provision that will oblige platforms to accept and consider a complaint from the copyright holder about the "illegal placement of a product card." Consultations with business are continuing, the bill is being finalized and it is expected that it will be submitted to the State Duma for consideration in the spring session, representatives of the Deputy Prime Minister also said.

Wildberries told Izvestia that additional tools are already being used to control the quality and safety of products.

— There is a Digital Arbitration service. It allows brand owners to contact sellers directly and check the documents for the product. If the seller cannot present them, the marketplace hides such products from the online showcase," the Wildberries&Russ press service noted.

Recently, the company launched another tool for the development and protection of brands by copyright holders — the Brands service. The new mechanism will allow official representatives of brands to confirm their rights, strengthen control over the representation of products on the marketplace, representatives of the online platform added.

In addition to tools for protecting copyright holders, Wildberries is actively participating in an experiment with Rosaccreditation: more than 13 million products have already been verified by the agency — links to certificates or declarations of conformity have been uploaded to product cards. In addition, the marketplace is already integrated with the relevant Rospatent registries and verifies the data of the copyright holder through the register of trademark holders, the company added.

On the one hand, it is really necessary to fight counterfeiting, says Marina Bludyan, First Vice-president of Opora Russia. On the other hand, the turnover of intellectual property in the Russian Federation is now perfectly regulated: there is a specialized federal agency, there is judicial practice, and a labeling system is developing. With its help, counterfeiting can be prevented at any level, the expert believes.

And if the amount of costs due to the lockdown turns out to be unaffordable for a small business and insurance won't cover it, she wonders. The inclusion of norms protecting intellectual property rights and specific proposals needs to be elaborated and discussed in detail, Marina Bludyan believes. It is impossible to include everything in the draft law now, it is already quite loaded and will require efforts in its implementation, she believes.

Foreign marketplaces also apply comprehensive measures to combat counterfeiting. In China, the law on electronic commerce (E-Commerce Law) It obliges platforms to create convenient channels for copyright holders to protect their rights, said Kristina Mkrtchyan.

— In the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act sets out the requirements for the notice-and-takedown system, and major platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, and eBay provide copyright holders with specialized tools to protect brands. The Russian mechanism with insurance adds a level of protection for bona fide sellers," she believes.

In a situation where parallel imports are legalized in Russia, insurance in case of counterfeit sales creates risks for insurance companies and sellers (if the latter pay for insurance or compensate for such payment), says Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research.

Many foreign manufacturers are unaware of the sale of their products on Russian marketplaces, so they are unlikely to find their brand products there — genuine or counterfeit, he added. If we are going to launch insurance against counterfeiting, then the right to declare a fake and receive an insurance payment should be given to the one who suffered from the counterfeit: that is, to the buyer, the expert concluded.