How Temu protects brands and enforces IP rights | Managing Intellectual Property

How Temu protects brands and enforces IP rights August 10 2026 X LinkedIn Email Show more sharing options Copy Link URL Copied! Print X LinkedIn Email frank - stock.adobe.com From seller vetting and proprietary screening technology to brand collaboration and industry partnerships, Temu explains how its intellectual property enforcement programme combats infringement on its marketplace Temu protects brands and rights holders through an intellectual property (IP) enforcement programme that runs from seller vetting to post-listing monitoring, paired with direct tools for rights holders to report and prevent infringement. Over the past year, Temu tripled the number of brands under proactive monitoring to more than 15,000. Temu’s 2026 Intellectual Property Protection Report , covering June 2025 to May 2026, sets out how its IP programme works and the results it delivered. Below are answers to common questions about Temu’s approach to brand protection and IP enforcement. 1 How does Temu protect brands on its marketplace? Temu prohibits the sale of infringing products on its marketplace. This is set out in its seller agreements, and its Intellectual Property Policy establishes penalties for violations and repeat infringers. The platform detects and removes infringing listings using a combination of proprietary screening technology and a team of expert human reviewers. These checks run at several stages: before a seller joins, before a listing publishes, and again after it goes live. Early detection and continuous monitoring help remove suspected infringements quickly, easing the enforcement burden on rights holders and smaller businesses without dedicated IP teams. 2 How does Temu detect infringing listings before they are sold? Temu proactively screens every listing before it goes live against a detection database of more than 47 million images and 9.5 million keywords, more than a ninefold increase in image coverage over the year. Over the same period, proactive removals outnumbered reactive takedowns by 331 to 1, up from about 200 to 1. The system also targets so-called dupes, listings that replicate the overall look and feel of a product without using its trademark. To catch these, it pairs image-based detection with reference material supplied by rights holders. 3 Who is allowed to sell on Temu? Temu vets sellers before they can join and list products. Applicants submit company registration, legal representative details and operational credentials, which are checked against third-party data sources. More than 40% of new applicants were rejected at onboarding for failing verification checks. Seller oversight continues after onboarding through ongoing reviews of seller records and IP documentation. Sellers are also required to comply with platform policies, and failure to do so may result in listing removals, suspension or account termination. Temu terminated more than 16,000 stores over the period for repeated IP violations. Temu also provides IP training through its Seller Education Center, covering brand vetting procedures, platform compliance policies and other best practices. 4 How do brand owners report infringement on Temu? Rights holders can use two tools: the IP Portal and the Brand Registry Portal. The IP Portal is a notice-and-takedown channel for reporting suspected infringement. The Brand Registry Portal lets rights holders store and manage their trademark and other IP information, so future enforcement requests move faster without the need to resubmit the same documentation. The registry also covers geographical indications, the origin-based marks that protect products such as Champagne or Parma ham. Temu resolves IP complaints in less than 24 hours on average. 5 How does Temu support small businesses and brands? Through the Brand Guardian Initiative, launched in April 2024, Temu works directly with more than 3,000 brands, including about 500 small and medium-sized enterprises. Participating brands embed their trademarks and product images into Temu’s monitoring systems so suspected infringements are caught earlier. They also get direct, one-on-one contact with Temu’s teams and a faster takedown process. Support is available whether or not the brand sells on Temu. 6 How does Temu handle infringing listings found on the marketplace? Monitoring continues after a listing goes live. Suspected infringements identified through automated systems, manual review or reports are investigated and removed, and repeat offenders face store termination. 7 How does Temu help shoppers avoid counterfeit goods? Temu blocks searches for terms such as “fake”, “dupe” and “counterfeit”, returning no product results and instead showing a message about the risks of buying infringing goods. The feature runs across its markets and intercepts more than 80,000 such searches a day. 8 Does Temu work with anti-counterfeiting organisations? Temu engaged with more than 130 industry associations over the year, nearly double the previous reporting period. In April 2026 it joined the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), building on its role in the coalition’s Marketplace Advisory Council. It also works with the International Trademark Association (INTA), France's Union des Fabricants (UNIFAB), the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) and Italy’s Institute for the Protection of Italian Manufacturers (INDICAM), among others. IP protection is an evolving industry-wide challenge, and Temu has said it will keep investing in proactive prevention, brand collaboration and consumer education as marketplaces and infringement tactics change.