Temu Expands Intellectual Property Monitoring to Over 15,000 Brands with Enhanced Proactive Enforcement

Temu has significantly expanded its intellectual property (IP) monitoring efforts, tripling the number of brands under its proactive enforcement program to over 15,000, according to its most recent annual IP enforcement report covering June 2025 to May 2026.

The report reveals that Temu’s ratio of proactive removals of potentially infringing listings to reactive takedowns has risen sharply to 331:1, up from approximately 200:1 the previous year. This demonstrates the company’s increasing focus on identifying and removing suspect listings before brand owners need to file complaints.

Central to Temu’s enforcement strategy is a rigorous screening system that scrutinizes seller applications prior to onboarding and continuously reviews product listings both before and after they go live on the platform. During the reporting period, over 40% of new seller applicants were rejected due to failing verification checks. Additionally, more than 16,000 stores were terminated for repeated intellectual property violations.

Temu’s detection database now encompasses more than 47 million images and 9.5 million keywords, with image coverage expanding more than ninefold over the year. This extensive repository enhances the platform’s ability to identify products that may infringe on brand rights.

The company also reports an average resolution time of less than 24 hours for IP complaints, a critical metric for rights holders, especially those without dedicated legal teams, who depend on swift platform action to mitigate infringement risks.

Every product listing undergoes screening against Temu’s comprehensive image and keyword database before publication and remains under ongoing review once live. The platform employs a combination of automated detection tools and human reviewers to spot suspected infringements and remove listings proactively.

In addition to backend enforcement, Temu has introduced a consumer search intervention feature across all its markets. Searches containing terms such as “fake,” “dupe,” and “counterfeit” yield no product results and instead display warnings about the dangers of counterfeit goods. This feature blocks over 80,000 such searches daily, aiming to reduce consumer exposure to counterfeit products.

Temu’s expanded enforcement efforts reflect a broader industry trend among large online marketplaces to take a more active role in brand protection rather than relying predominantly on rights holders’ notices. This shift comes amid growing scrutiny from consumer groups, brand owners, and industry bodies as cross-border eCommerce platforms increase their global reach.

The company’s Brand Guardian Initiative, launched in 2024, now collaborates directly with more than 3,000 brands, including approximately 500 small and medium-sized enterprises. Participating brands provide trademark and other IP data to enhance Temu’s monitoring systems. These brands receive direct support and regular enforcement updates regardless of whether they sell on Temu.

Temu also offers intellectual property compliance training to merchants through its Seller Education Centre, aiming to reduce repeat violations by educating sellers about IP rights and platform policies.

The platform’s engagement with the wider IP community has grown substantially, partnering with over 130 industry associations during the reporting period—nearly double the number from the prior year. These partnerships include international and national IP organizations such as the International Trademark Association and France’s Union des Fabricants.

Temu also joined the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) during the reporting period, expanding its involvement beyond its existing role on the coalition’s Marketplace Advisory Council.

Operating in more than 90 markets, Temu connects consumers with manufacturers, brands, and merchants across a complex cross-border network. This scale adds complexity to IP monitoring and enforcement, as the platform balances the need to maintain low barriers for merchants with the imperative to prevent the sale of infringing goods.

Automated systems enable Temu to review large volumes of listings efficiently, though rights holders have historically raised concerns about the speed and accuracy of such enforcement across the sector.

A Temu spokesperson emphasized the company’s commitment to proactive IP protection: “We work to protect intellectual property before it becomes a problem for a rights holder.”

The spokesperson added, “The report reflects our priorities of finding and removing potentially infringing listings proactively, resolving reported ones quickly and working directly with brands so the system keeps improving.”