SHEIN joins hands with all sectors to continue to promote the first cross-border intellectual property empowerment action to safeguard the healthy development of overseas markets

"Small and medium-sized businesses should strengthen their awareness of intellectual property compliance and protection. At the same time, as a platform, they should also take the initiative to ' clear mines' for businesses, rather than 'lay mines'." Since the beginning of this year, the first intellectual property empowerment action in the cross-border industry, which includes the government, associations, industry experts and enterprises, has provided effective intellectual property training and empowerment for cross-border businesses. The reporter learned that with the approaching of the annual overseas shopping carnival "Black Friday", this plan will continue to provide intellectual property empowerment services for overseas businesses, so as to enhance the awareness and ability of overseas intellectual property compliance, protection and innovative development of businesses, and help cross-border businesses grow steadily and develop with high quality in the global market .

The first intellectual property empowerment plan in the above industry that joins hands with professional forces from all walks of life was jointly sponsored by the well-known fashion brand, cross-border e-commerce company S HEIN and Guangdong Zhongce Intellectual Property Research Institute. The latest lecture event was recently held in Nanjing. Relevant responsible persons from Nanjing Municipal Government, Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Nanjing Municipal Market Supervision Administration (Intellectual Property Office) and other departments attended , and hundreds of cross-border merchants and corporate representatives participated. The organizer also invited senior experts in the field of intellectual property and law to give on-site lectures and share cross-border e-commerce intellectual property issues through thematic training. So far, the empowerment plan has held many offline empowerment training activities in many places.

The industry's first joint IP empowerment campaign by the government, associations, industry experts and enterprises has launched many empowerment activities across the country

"We will uphold the city's temperament of openness, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win, constantly innovate mechanisms, optimize services, and work with S HEIN to provide more comprehensive and precise support for cross-border e-commerce companies to establish IP image, protect and use intellectual property rights. " Tan Yong, deputy director of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said in his speech at the event, " Nanjing will fully support cross-border e-commerce companies to rely on the channel advantages and traffic resources of platforms such as S HEIN to achieve digital upgrading of the industry, and set sail with a new brand image of compliance, green and innovation.

( The offline event of the “Rare Gravitation·Innovation Era” IP Empowerment Program was held in Nanjing )

On April 23 this year , at the "2024 Intellectual Property Promotion Week Launch and Guangzhou Intellectual Property Achievement Exhibition" event jointly organized by the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Work Leading Group Office, Guangzhou Market Supervision Administration (Intellectual Property Office), and Guangzhou Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau , it was announced that the "Rare Gravity·Innovation Era" IP empowerment plan jointly initiated by SHEIN and Guangdong Zhongce Intellectual Property Research Institute and all walks of life was officially launched to help overseas merchants strengthen brand innovation and intellectual property protection, and to help Chinese brands and products go overseas and develop globally.

According to the plan, hundreds of public welfare service activities will be held for cross-border merchants within three years through education and training, practical tool development, one-on-one compliance and legal consultation , etc., to help more brands and merchants to ensure intellectual property compliance, protection and innovative development in the process of going overseas .

Since its launch, it has successfully held many offline empowerment training activities in many places across the country.

At the first offline training event of the "Rare Gravitation, Innovation Era" IP Empowerment Plan on April 28 , relevant responsible persons from the Guangzhou Municipal Government, Panyu District Government of Guangzhou, Guangzhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration (Intellectual Property Office), Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Panyu District Market Supervision Administration and other departments attended the event. Representatives from dozens of key cross-border merchants in Guangzhou attended the event, and many authoritative experts in the field of intellectual property and law gave lectures on the spot.

"The topics covered in this event are not only technical issues of intellectual property protection, but also key issues related to industrial upgrading and effective response to technical barriers to foreign trade. This is a major and very meaningful exploration." Lan Weining, deputy director of the Guangzhou Administration for Market Regulation (Intellectual Property Office), said, "We hope that through the solid development of the event, it will bring tangible benefits to upstream and downstream companies and effectively enhance the core competitiveness of companies and brands."

"IP empowerment work is not achieved overnight . It requires the joint efforts of the government, associations, especially leading enterprises and all sectors of society." Liu Yueping, president of the Guangdong Garment and Apparel Industry Association, believes that through lectures by well-known experts and guidance from professional institutions, the IP awareness and literacy of enterprises can be effectively improved, the IP management and dispute response capabilities can be improved, and the comprehensive competitiveness of enterprises can be enhanced . " We also look forward to the IP empowerment plan to strengthen cooperation with all sectors in the public service system, talent cultivation, brand development, domestic and international exchanges and cooperation, enhance international competitiveness, and jointly contribute to the high-quality development of Guangdong's industry. "

Liu Yueping pointed out that the plan not only reflects SHEIN's foresight and social responsibility, but also has extraordinary significance for the Guangdong apparel industry. "Intellectual property rights, as an important factor in promoting sustainable fashion, not only protect creativity and brand achievements, but also stimulate the innovation vitality of the entire industry. By strengthening intellectual property protection, we can promote the green, low-carbon and circular development of the fashion industry and achieve a win-win situation in economic and social benefits."

Strengthen compliance awareness and beware of becoming a scapegoat for infringement when going overseas

Many experts stressed that it is critical for cross-border merchants to identify the main intellectual property rights of third-party brands, such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights, when going overseas. At the same time, if merchants provide and produce products for third-party brands, they should also be careful to avoid infringement on third-party brands.

Unlike other cross-border e-commerce companies, SHEIN started as an independent brand, and later expanded to form a unique independent brand + platform dual-mode development. Its own brand SHEIN of the same name quickly rose to become a world-renowned fashion brand. According to the latest data analysis website Similarweb, SHEIN became the world's most visited clothing and fashion brand in September 2024 and the third quarter. NIKE, H&M, and ZARA ranked second to fourth after SHEIN. According to the latest media reports, SHEIN's annual sales in France in 2023 have exceeded H&M and others, becoming the second largest clothing and fashion brand in France.

As domestic brands continue to gain international influence, infringement of SHEIN's domestic brands on some platforms has also received increasing attention. According to incomplete statistics from Intellectual Property Finance, the US court has issued 12 temporary restraining orders (TROs), requiring relevant overseas e-commerce platforms and sellers on the platforms to stop infringing on the SHEIN brand. The latest one was two TROs issued in a single day requiring 35 sellers to stop infringing on the SHEIN brand.

Some merchants have previously stated that small and medium-sized merchants are easily misled by other platforms due to their weak awareness of intellectual property rights. "As a supplier of an internationally renowned clothing brand, other platforms have previously wanted us to directly upload the styles and photos we produce for this brand to their platforms. Through intellectual property training, we have a clearer understanding that this practice is an infringement, and fortunately we did not do so (at the time)."

With the development trend of high-quality overseas expansion , intellectual property protection and compliance issues have also become one of the factors that determine the long-term stable and sustainable development of cross-border merchants and enterprises . "Protecting intellectual property rights is protecting innovation." Improving the awareness and ability of intellectual property compliance, protection and innovative development is also becoming a consensus among cross-border merchants.

The recognition and development of SHEIN's own brand in overseas markets has provided confidence to many merchants who are determined to expand their brands overseas. Temporary injunctions such as TRO have a special status in the European and American judicial systems. They are court orders issued by the court to require the parties to maintain the status quo or prohibit certain behaviors in order to prevent the plaintiff's rights from being immediately and irreparably damaged. They are also an emergency intervention measure. There are relatively strict preconditions for the court to issue a temporary injunction, so the above-mentioned US court's support for the protection of SHEIN's own brand is also of special significance in the industry.

“To do overseas business, you need to have a long-term vision, and compliance is a prerequisite”, “Overseas merchants must be careful to distinguish, and not be misled by the platform into infringement traps, and finally become the scapegoat”, “Prevent infringement on others, and also prevent infringement by others”... In the series of intellectual property empowerment training activities including the Nanjing venue, related topics such as "compliant overseas", "green overseas", and "innovative overseas" to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the industry have become the consensus of the participating cross-border merchants and legal experts in their interactions.

(Taught by Song Jian, former senior judge of Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court)

"Don't use it without permission, and don't use it if you don't want to pay." In a lecture on intellectual property and unfair competition issues involving the apparel industry, Song Jian, a former senior judge of the Jiangsu Higher People's Court, combined real cases, with his rich judicial trial experience and profound legal attainments, elaborated in detail on common risks such as trademark infringement and design plagiarism and their infringement determination rules, and suggested that cross-border merchants should strengthen their awareness of intellectual property rights, respect the intellectual property rights of others, and do a good job in intellectual property infringement risk investigation.

In response to the intellectual property litigation situation of overseas cross-border e-commerce in the past two years, Chen Ting, deputy general manager of China Strategic Intellectual Property Research Institute, analyzed the typical links of cross-border intellectual property risk control and shared in detail the practical suggestions for risk control related to intellectual property in cross-border e-commerce : "We hope that through the implementation of the IP empowerment plan, we can guide enterprises to deeply understand the value of intellectual property rights, avoid infringement, and learn how to build brands to enhance their core competitiveness and promote high-quality and sustainable development of enterprises. "

SHEIN

IP Empowerment Series Activities