Dear Rights Holders,
The Good-faith Takedown Mechanism (the “Mechanism”) is built based on mutual trust between Alibaba and intellectual property rights (IPR) owners (including their representatives), and aims to assist IPR owners in protecting and enforcing their IPR through the Alibaba Intellectual Property Protection Platform (“IPP Platform”). It is designed to enable truthful, prudent and diligent IPR owners who have established a track record on the IPP platform to enjoy more convenient and efficient enforcement experiences on Alibaba IPP Platform. Currently, the Mechanism applies to complaints against product listings on the Tao Marketplaces (i.e., Taobao, Tmall and Tmall Global).
To standardize and improve understanding and efficiency of the Mechanism, we introduce the “Rules of Good-faith Takedown Mechanism of Alibaba” as below.
“Rules of Good-faith Takedown Mechanism of Alibaba”
DATE: 2021-12-28
Chapter I Definition
Accounts registered on Alibaba’s IPP Platform (an “Account“) that have historical takedown statistics (including successful takedown rate, successful counter-notification rate and the total number of complaints submitted) during a defined period satisfying the threshold requirements will be automatically admitted to the Mechanism for the account holder to enjoy a more enhanced enforcement experience. Conversely, if the relevant statistics of a Mechanism account fails to meet the requirements during the defined period, such an account will be automatically removed from the Mechanism.
Chapter II Admission Threshold of the Mechanism
Article 1 An Account, which does not have bad-faith act, will be admitted to the Mechanism once the statistics for the Account meet all the following thresholds:
1. Successful takedown rate for overall complaints data as well as complaints data based on any single reason code ≥ 90%;
2. Successful counter-notification rate for overall complaints data as well as complaints data based on any single reason code ≤ 5%;
3. Number of complaints filed in the previous three calendar months >= 100;
4. Three months has passed since the last withdrawal from the Mechanism (if any).
Note: Months are calculated based on calendar months.
Article 2 Alibaba shall check the statistics of Accounts that are not in the Mechanism on a regular basis (as defined by Chapter II, Article 4). Any Accounts meeting the threshold requirements will automatically be admitted into the Mechanism (provided the Account is not ineligible due to prior removal from the Mechanism – see Chapter II, Article 3).
Article 3 Accounts that are automatically removed from the Mechanism according to removal standard in Chapter III, Article 5 will be eligible for re-admission following a three-month period. Upon the expiration of the period, the statistics of the Account will be subject to review for the purpose of re-admission to the Mechanism.
Article 4 Alibaba will review the prior three calendar months’ statistics of regular Accounts on the 8th of each month to determine whether the Accounts meet the threshold requirements for admission into the Mechanism. Accounts that meet the threshold requirements will automatically be admitted to the Mechanism on the 15th of that month, and the icon indicating admission to the Mechanism will turn gold
. The Account user will also receive a notification message about the successful account upgrade.
Chapter III Removal Standards of the Mechanism
Article 5 If an Account, according to the overall complaints data as well as complaints data based on any single reason code , meets one of the following non-compliance standards, the Account will be automatically removed from the Mechanism:
1. Successful takedown rate < 90% and the number of complaints filed in the past three calendar months > 30;
2. Successful counter-notification rate > 5% and the number of complaints filed in the past three calendar months > 30.
Article 6 If an account is independently judged to have been used in bad faith (in accordance with Chapter V), Alibaba reserves the right to permanently remove the account from the Good-faith Mechanism.
Article 7 Alibaba will review the statistics of the Accounts within the Mechanism on a regular basis (as defined in Chapter III, Article 7).
Article 8 Alibaba will review Accounts’ statistics for the previous three calendar months on the 8th of each month to determine whether any Account meets the non-compliance standards for removal from the Mechanism. Once an Account meets the non-compliance standards for removal, the Account will be automatically removed from the Mechanism on the 15th of that month, and the icon indicating membership of the Mechanism will turn grey
. The Account user will also receive a notification message about the account removal.
Chapter IV Benefits of Joining the Mechanism
Article 9 For Accounts admitted to the Mechanism, Alibaba will process complaints on a timely and rapid basis to increase the efficiency of enforcement on the IPP Platform.
Article 10 Accounts admitted to the Mechanism will enjoy the benefits of simplified requirements for burden of proof.
Article 11 For Accounts admitted to the Mechanism, Alibaba will provide, subject to applicable laws and regulations, the corresponding rights holders with enhanced reference statistics, to provide more efficient and effective interactions with rights holders.
Article 12 The Accounts admitted to the Mechanism can book monthly conference calls for in-depth communication on takedown issues with Alibaba. Alibaba will provide customized guidance to better support the enforcement of rights holders.
Article 13 Accounts admitted to the Mechanism will be able to use more refined bases of takedown requests to enhance the enforcement experience.
Chapter V Acts of Bad-faith
Article 14 The Mechanism is an in-depth cooperation program based on mutual trust between Alibaba and IPR complainants. Good-faith, accuracy, authenticity and validity serve as the foundation of the Mechanism. All information and documents submitted by IPR complainants should be true, accurate, legitimate and valid. If Alibaba reasonably believes that any complaint falls under one of the following situations, Alibaba may, at its sole discretion, remove the complainant account from the Mechanism permanently:
1. Malicious complaints (including, but not limited to, submitting false or other misleading materials, fabricate grounds for complaints, filing complaints even knowing that their rights are unstable, and failing to withdraw the complaint in time when knowing that the complaint is wrong, etc.);
2. Abuse of the Good-faith Takedown Mechanism, such as IPR owners or their authorized agents conducting channel management and price control, or exhibiting other bad faith act which may undermine the Mechanism’s integrity; or
3. Other behaviors that disrupt the normal operation of Alibaba platforms or its sellers.
Article 15 The IPR complainant shall be responsible for all the legal risks and losses suffered by Alibaba and its sellers, caused by the IPR complainant’s violation of Article 13. In addition, Alibaba reserves the rights to any and all remedies in accordance with laws and regulations.
Chapter VI Application scope of the Mechanism
Article 16 The Mechanism currently applies to complaints against listings on the Tao Marketplaces (i.e., Taobao, Tmall and Tmall Global).
Chapter VII Interpretation and Revision
Article 17 The Rules apply to all Accounts registered on the IPP Platform of Alibaba. Alibaba is entitled to, from time to time, amend the Rules and announce updates of the same. Any and all matters not specifically covered herein shall be governed by the relevant provisions of “Alibaba Intellectual Property Protection Platform User Agreement”.
The Rules shall come into effect on December 28th, 2021.
For more information, please refer to: