Counterfeits Keep Coming Back After Takedowns: How to Trace the Source in China

Brands that take down counterfeit listings on Chinese marketplaces often describe the same frustration: the listings disappear, and a few weeks later the same products are back, under new store names. A takedown removes a listing, not the people or the factory behind it. To make the problem smaller, you need to find out who is actually making and shipping the goods, and then use tools that reach them. This guide sets out how to trace the source and which routes are open once you have found it. It is general information; Chinese law, platform rules and the facts of each case decide the outcome.

Why the same listings keep coming back

• One manufacturer often supplies many sellers, and a seller can open new stores after one is closed.
• Platform complaints work listing by listing. They are fast, but on their own they do not stop production.
• Some sellers change photos or product names just enough to avoid automatic matching.

Platform complaints are still worth filing: they protect your sales channel, and repeated valid complaints count against the seller under the platform's repeat-infringer rules. See taking down counterfeits on Chinese marketplaces.

Step 1: collect what the listings already tell you

1. Record every listing with its URL, store name, price, photos and date, so you can see which stores reappear and which ones share the same photos or descriptions.
2. Look at the seller details: B2B pages on Alibaba and 1688 usually show a company name and location; retail stores often display business licence information.
3. Make test purchases from the stores that sell the most. The parcel, the shipping origin, the invoice and the payment record often point to a company or a city. If you may go to court, have the purchase notarised or captured by a recognised evidence-preservation service.

Step 2: identify the company

• Check the company register: China's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System shows a company's registration number, legal representative, registered address and status.
• Link the stores: shared company names, addresses, phone numbers, warehouse locations or identical product photos often connect several stores to one supplier.
• Use a local investigator for the last step: confirming where the goods are made and stored usually needs someone on the ground. Choose one who works lawfully and documents the findings in a form usable as evidence.

Step 3: choose a route that reaches the source

• Administrative enforcement: the local Administration for Market Regulation can act against trademark counterfeiting, seize goods and impose fines. It needs a registered Chinese trademark and evidence of where the goods are.
• Civil action: a Chinese court can order the infringer to stop and pay damages. Evidence and a clear defendant matter more than anything else.
• Criminal referral: large-scale counterfeiting of a registered trademark can be a crime under Chinese law. Police involvement depends on the scale and the evidence.
• Customs: a trademark recorded with China Customs lets customs detain infringing exports, including shipments from a factory you have identified. See China customs IP recordal.

All of these routes depend on rights that exist in China. A trademark or design registered only in your home country does not support enforcement there. If the copies are of your product's appearance rather than your brand, see what to do when a factory is selling your design.

A realistic approach

1. Keep filing platform complaints to protect your sales channel.
2. Track which stores reappear and group them by likely source.
3. Focus investigation on the one or two sources that account for most of the volume.
4. Choose administrative, civil or customs action for those sources, based on the evidence you have.

Frequently asked questions

Can the platform give me the seller's details? Platforms may disclose some seller information to rights holders through their IP protection programmes or when required by a court. What they share and when depends on their own rules.

Is a raid worth it for a small brand? It depends on volume. One raid on a major source can reduce listings more than many takedowns, but it costs more and needs good evidence. For low volumes, platform complaints and customs recordal may be enough.

The seller is outside China. Does this still help? If the goods are made or shipped from China, the Chinese routes can still reach the factory or the exports. Sales elsewhere depend on your rights in those countries.

J&C Intellectual Property Agency, founded in 2008, is a CNIPA-recorded trademark agency and a member of the China Trademark Association. We handle trademark filings, customs recordals and enforcement support in China for foreign brands; see our trademark enforcement service.