Liability for Indirect Trademark Infringements in E-Commerce Platforms

The article explores the issue of the liability of electronic trading platform operators for indirect trademark infringement. The author addresses the key question: to what extent platform operators should be liable for preventing and suppressing the sale of counterfeit goods. The article also includes a comparative analysis of practices in other countries, particularly China, where notice-and-removal rules have been implemented and enforced. Furthermore, the article offers a comprehensive study to balance the interests of rights holders, e-commerce platforms, and consumers, ensuring the fair protection of intellectual property rights in the digital economy. The article utilises an analysis of United States case law and international practices in trademark protection. It examines legislative initiatives and proposed changes to the regulation of platform liability. Comparative studies of the US and Chinese legal systems are also employed. The author considers and justifies possible changes to the legislative framework to increase platforms’ role in combating counterfeit goods and assesses existing liability standards and their impact on rights holders. In order to balance the interests of all participants in the online trading process, considerable changes to liability for indirect trademark infringement are required. The focus is on the need for active cooperation between platforms and rights owners to combat counterfeiting better.