How to Take Down Fake Products on Taobao, Tmall and 1688

Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global, 1688 and the second-hand app Xianyu do not use the international IP platform that handles AliExpress. Their complaints go to the Taobao and Tmall Group IP Protection Platform (in Chinese, 淘天知识产权保护平台), at ipp.alibabagroup.com, which now opens at ipp.taobao.com. The process looks familiar: verify your identity, verify a right, submit the listing URLs with evidence. Three rules make it different: trademarks must be registered in mainland China, agents must be lawyers or qualified agencies, and seller appeals come with short response deadlines.

This guide covers what the platform accepts, what it requires, the filing steps, what happens after a seller appeals and the penalties sellers face. For the map of all Alibaba marketplaces, see our guide to reporting counterfeits on Alibaba and AliExpress.

What the platform considers an infringement

The platform handbook lists four types of complaints: trademark infringement (identical or confusingly similar marks, and counterfeit marks), copyright infringement (unauthorized photos and pirated copies of books, music, video, software and other works), patent infringement (inventions and designs) and other clear cases, such as portrait rights. It also accepts complaints beyond product listings, including content on the Guangguang feed, live streams and whole stores.

It refuses complaints that are not about intellectual property:

• Distribution and channel control. Disputes under a distribution agreement are for the parties to resolve.
• Price control. Sales below MAP or MSRP.
• Prohibited products. Use the Report link on the product page instead.
• Rights not yet granted. A trademark, patent or copyright application still under examination.
• Fair use. If the seller offers your genuine product, your logo in the photos and your brand name in the description are not trademark infringement.

What evidence you need

Item	What the platform asks for
Identity, company outside mainland China	A photo of the local business license or registration document
Identity, individual outside mainland China	A photo of the original passport, travel permit, ID card or driver's license
Trademark	A photo or scan of the original certificate, the class page uploaded separately if there is one, and any renewal, assignment or change certificate
Patent	The certificate; for Chinese design and utility model patents applied for from January 1, 2010, a patent evaluation report with a positive conclusion
Copyright	A registration certificate, or for photos on your official website or flagship store, the platform's official website statement
Agent authorization	The generated authorization letter, signed or stamped by the rights holder, plus the rights holder's identity proof
Translations	Chinese or English translations of documents in other languages
Proof of infringement	Reasons and preliminary evidence for each complaint, such as a test purchase report

The trademark rule is the one that stops most foreign brands. The platform lets you record a trademark registered outside China under "Others", but its English FAQ says a trademark can be selected in a complaint only if it is registered in mainland China. A Madrid Protocol registration designating China also needs a certificate of territorial extension. Our guide to registering your trademark in China explains how to get there.

For a test buy complaint, the platform asks for a report issued by whoever authenticated the product and signed or stamped by the rights holder. It must include the order number, the listing, photos of the item and the method and reasons for the conclusion. A template is available when you file.

The official reporting procedure

The Taobao and Tmall Group IPP has its own account system. You can register with an email address, or sign in with a Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global or 1688 account. When you verify your identity, you choose whether you file for yourself or for others, and whether you are in mainland China or another region. Some of these choices, such as whether you are the rights holder or an agent, cannot be changed once submitted.

Agents face stricter rules than on the international IPP. Since an upgrade in January 2024, only lawyers, law firms and rights-protection agencies can verify as authorized agents. A company account can also file for its own parent, subsidiary or branch companies. The authorization letter must name the Taobao and Tmall IPP, must authorize the handling of IP infringement (a sales authorization is not enough), and can run for up to three years before it must be renewed. Our guide to the two Alibaba IP Protection Platforms compares both sets of rules.

How to report a fake product, step by step

1. Check your Chinese rights. A mainland China trademark registration, a Chinese patent, or proof of copyright ownership.
2. Register an account. Use a shared company email address. In principle, the platform expects one account per entity, and one account represents one rights holder.
3. Verify your identity. Select the account type, the region and the entity type, then upload the documents.
4. Record the authorization. Agents and related companies download the generated letter, have it signed or stamped and upload it.
5. Verify each right. Upload the certificates and supporting documents, and wait for approval.
6. Start the complaint. Choose Submit a complaint and pick the platform: Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Global or 1688.
7. Choose the category and reason. Select the right, then Product listing or Store front, then the reason, for example Test buy, Obvious Counterfeit or Concealing Trademark.
8. Add the links. Paste up to 300 listing URLs, one per line, and click Verify listing(s).
9. Explain and attach evidence. Describe the infringement and add your documents, then submit.
10. Watch the case. Follow the status in the complaint management page and answer any seller appeal in time.

What happens after you file

If the complaint is upheld, the platform can delete or delist the listing, remove the infringing content or freeze the seller's deposit, and it forwards your notice to the seller. The seller can then appeal or correct the listing within a set period. You can review the appeal and respond: withdraw the complaint if you accept it, or object and ask the platform to decide on both sides' materials. If you disagree with the platform's decision, the handbook says you can take the case to a competent court.

The platform does not publish a fixed review time on the pages we reviewed.

Common reasons complaints fail

• A trademark not registered in mainland China. It cannot be selected for a trademark complaint.
• An agent that does not qualify, or an authorization letter that does not name the platform or cover IP enforcement.
• Copies instead of originals. Individuals cannot submit photocopies of certificates, and companies must stamp any copy.
• A missing patent evaluation report for a Chinese design or utility model patent.
• No response to the seller. Missing the counter-notice deadline withdraws the complaint.
• A genuine product. Fair use of your brand to sell your own goods is not infringement.

How sellers are penalized

Taobao's counterfeit rules scale with severity: a general case leads to deletion of the listing, a serious case to 24 C-class points and a particularly serious case to 48. Taobao applies a three-strikes rule for selling counterfeits, after which the account is sealed. Improper use of another party's rights costs 2, 6 or 48 A-class points depending on severity, and complaints on the same right against the same seller within three days count as one. 1688 has its own rules for counterfeit sales and improper use of rights.

For reliable complainants, the Good Faith complaint mechanism on Taobao, Tmall and Tmall Global offers faster handling and simpler evidence. Accounts qualify automatically with at least 100 complaints in three months, a success rate of 90% or more and seller appeal success of 5% or less.

The limits of the manual process

The Chinese platforms are large, and listings are published and changed quickly. The IPP only acts on the URLs you submit, the account and history are separate from the international IPP, and a seller removed from Taobao may still sell the same product on AliExpress or elsewhere. The evidence rules also assume Chinese registrations and documents, which take time to obtain.

How Valigard can help before you report

Valigard searches marketplaces worldwide with your official product photos, including AliExpress, Alibaba.com and Lazada, so it finds copies that reuse your photos even without your brand name. For each listing you mark as likely counterfeit, it keeps the URL, a saved and timestamped copy of the page, the price, the seller and the country, and it shows whether the listing was later removed or relisted.

Valigard does not send reports: you file on the IPP, then log the status and case number in your counterfeits list. It does not determine with legal certainty that a product is counterfeit and cannot guarantee removal.