Sponsored content: Mercado Libre partners with brands against counterfeits and piracy in Latin America

Latin America’s leading e-commerce technology company has launched a new partnership with brands to help create a counterfeit and piracy-free digital environment, explains Jacobo Cohen Imach of Mercado Libre.

Mercado Libre is taking another important step towards IP rights protection by launching the Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance, a partnership between the company and brands against alleged counterfeit and piracy in Mercado Libre’s ecosystem.

Levi Strauss & Co, Pink, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour and Victoria’s Secret, among others, are the first brands to partner with Mercado Libre on this initiative and others are close to joining.

With this alliance, Mercado Libre seeks to continue fighting IP infringements, raising awareness about the issue and providing to all of its users a safe transactional space to trade products and services.

Mercado Libre’s Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance is a 100% collaborative initiative, based on five key actions that bring a new approach to the region: (1) proactive monitoring of alleged infringing listings based on semantic algorithms and object detection; (2) strengthened collaboration with law enforcement agencies; (3) joint legal actions against infringers who abuse Mercado Libre’s ecosystem to sell alleged counterfeit or pirated goods; (4) sellers’ education on good practices and publication techniques, to reduce listings that may infringe third-party rights; and (5) buyers’ education to identify and report counterfeit or pirated products.

“We strongly believe that by working together with brand owners, by exchanging information and supporting each other, we can close the gap on malicious sellers.”

We believe that Mercado Libre Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance is a big step forward in combating counterfeits and piracy, as it calls for a collective effort. At Mercado Libre, we have strong standards and strive to deliver the best shopping experience to both buyers and sellers. 

We strongly believe that by working together with brand owners, by exchanging information and supporting each other, we can close the gap on malicious sellers. We carry in our DNA the values of teamwork and collaborative spirit, and are confident that as the alliance becomes more robust, more reputed brands will join us to work side by side.

This initiative is the first of its kind in the region and rests upon the company’s main values: trust, integrity and transparency. Moreover, it strengthens the experience gained through more than 20 years of collaboration with different stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.

We are in ‘constant beta’ and believe that there is always an opportunity to improve and innovate in everything we do. Though we already have several tools and processes in place that help us detect listings that are noncompliant with our Terms of Service, this alliance will allow us to work in a new integrated and strategic way with brand owners towards a more protected environment.

Through the years, Mercado Libre has enhanced tools and processes to identify, report and take down alleged IP infringements of any type of rights: trademarks, copyrights, patents and industrial designs.

The continuous improvements to the reporting tools based on feedback from brand owners, the use of machine learning and advanced technology applied to the company’s “notice and takedown programme”, the Brand Protection Program (BPP), as well as the implementation of a single account for brands to report infringements in Latin America, are only some of the core measures that Mercado Libre has taken to ensure a marketplace free of counterfeit and piracy.

The main actions and results of Mercado Libre’s efforts to guarantee the security of its digital services are published every six months in Mercado Libre’s “Transparency Report”, an initiative hitherto unprecedented in the region.

At this early stage, Mercado Libre is inviting brands that actively participate in the BPP and whose complaints are mostly for offers of counterfeit or pirated products to join the Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance.

As the programme becomes more robust, the possibility of joining will be open to all members. Mercado Libre has always strived to be the best partner in the Latin American region and continues to strengthen its commitment towards users, respecting IP and working together with brands to ensure the best shopping experience.

Brands looking to join this initiative can visit the official website: alliance.mercadolibre.com

Jacobo Cohen Imach is SVP & general counsel at Mercado Libre. He can be contacted via: carolina.pascarelli@mercadolibre.com