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Temu is strengthening its cooperation with the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) to protect intellectual property (IP) rights. / Courtesy of Temu

Temu is expanding its approach to tackling products that infringe intellectual property (IP) rights, shifting from removing listings after violations are reported to proactively detecting and blocking potentially infringing products. The company will incorporate keywords and images provided by brands into its monitoring system to identify suspicious listings before complaints are filed. It will also establish a dedicated channel through which rights holders can directly request reviews of previously delayed or rejected complaints.

According to Temu on Oct. 26, the company is operating the IACC-Temu Program in partnership with the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC). IACC member brands can use the IACC Global Portal to request further reviews of complaints that have been delayed, require additional examination or have been rejected. They can also communicate directly with Temu's IP protection specialists, who will respond to review requests within 48 hours. The program also provides quarterly meetings and progress reports.

The program's central feature is identifying potentially infringing products before complaints are filed. Brands submit relevant keywords and images, which Temu then incorporates into its existing monitoring system to detect related listings.

Temu said it currently uses 47 million images and 9.5 million keywords for monitoring, covering more than 15,000 brands. According to the company's own figures, an average of 331 potentially infringing listings are removed before being reported for every listing taken down following a complaint from a rights holder.

However, these figures are based on Temu's internal data. The company has not disclosed what proportion of proactively blocked listings were confirmed to be counterfeit products or whether removed products have subsequently been relisted. The effectiveness of the system will likely depend not only on the number of products detected proactively but also on how accurately it identifies actual IP-infringing products and prevents repeat listings.

Counterfeit products sold through overseas online platforms also remain a concern in South Korea. Last December, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it had examined 10 products from eight brands sold through overseas platforms, including AliExpress and Temu, and found that none matched genuine products. The items were sold at prices averaging 65% below their regular retail prices. However, the findings were not disclosed separately for each platform.

Alongside its cooperation with global brands, Temu is also establishing an IP protection framework in South Korea. The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the IACC in May last year and became a founding member of its Marketplace Advisory Council (MAC). It subsequently joined the IACC as a general member in April this year. On June 29, Temu also signed an MOU with the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KOIPA).

Under that partnership, the two sides work together through a dedicated communication channel to identify potentially infringing listings, while KOIPA verifies product authenticity and ownership of IP rights. Temu also operates a feature that restricts search results and displays informational messages when users enter terms such as "fake," "counterfeit" or "replica" in the search bar.

However, because the IACC-Temu Program is available to IACC member brands, the scope of access and participation requirements for South Korean companies still need to be clarified. Beyond the platform's measures to block counterfeit products, providing remedies for consumers who have already purchased such items remains another challenge.

"Effective intellectual property protection requires close cooperation with rights holders, alongside strong legal enforcement and regulatory action," a Temu official said. "The IACC-Temu Program was designed to address complex IP infringement cases more effectively and support proactive enforcement."

                                                                                                         Lee Chang-yeon