As Chinese manufacturers face increasing obstacles in the U.S. due to American tariffs, they are now shifting their focus more aggressively toward Europe. This new Chinese brand offensive is also evident in the rapid expansion of e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop. These companies leverage innovative sales strategies to fundamentally reshape the market and put pressure on the German retail sector.
TikTok Shop, which is about to launch in Germany, is expected to revolutionize online commerce. The platform’s tremendous success in the U.S. indicates what Europe can anticipate: integrated purchase options directly within short videos and sales via live streams make the shopping process seamless and impulse-driven. In China, live commerce already generates $740 billion in revenue—accounting for one-third of the total e-commerce market.
The shift of online commerce toward short videos and live streams presents a completely new challenge in the fight against product piracy. Unlike traditional counterfeit listings, which are statically displayed on marketplaces, fake products in live streams or short video clips appear only for a few seconds. This renders conventional monitoring methods—focused on scanning product listings—largely ineffective.
Given these dynamic distribution methods, protective measures must be adapted. Technologies such as AI-powered video analysis and real-time detection of suspicious listings are essential. These systems can automatically identify trademark-protected products appearing in videos through reverse image search and pattern recognition.
Another crucial tool is blockchain technology, which enhances transparency in the supply chain. Authenticity certificates stored on the blockchain can help distinguish counterfeit products from genuine ones. Additionally, digital forensic methods can trace counterfeiters by identifying IP addresses and server locations.
Brand owners must collaborate more closely with platform operators to detect fraud in real time. Only through a combination of big data analytics, AI-driven monitoring, and digital forensics can it be ensured that live commerce does not become a stronghold for product piracy.
China Intellectual Property Blog 