Counterfeiters and Pirates? The 2021 Notorious Markets List from the USTR

Press Announcement

USTR Releases 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy

WASHINGTON – The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today [February 17, 2022] released the findings of its 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List). The Notorious Markets List highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
 
“The global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods undermines critical U.S. innovation and creativity and harms American workers,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “This illicit trade also increases the vulnerability of workers involved in the manufacturing of counterfeit goods to exploitative labor practices, and the counterfeit goods can pose significant risks to the health and safety of consumers and workers around the world.”
 
Reflecting the Biden-Harris Administration’s worker-centered trade policy, the 2021 Notorious Markets List’s issue focus section examines the adverse impact of counterfeiting on workers involved with the manufacture of counterfeit goods. The section describes how the illicit nature of counterfeiting requires coordination between relevant actors in order to effectively uncover and combat labor violations in counterfeiting operations across the globe.
 
The 2021 Notorious Markets List also identifies 42 online markets and 35 physical markets that are reported to engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. This includes identifying for the first time AliExpress and the WeChat e-commerce ecosystem, two significant China-based online markets that reportedly facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting. Also, China-based online markets Baidu Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo, and Taobao continue to be listed, as well as nine physical markets located within China that are known for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods.
 
Background
 
USTR first identified notorious markets in the Special 301 Report in 2006. Since February 2011, USTR has published annually the Notorious Markets List separately from the Special 301 Report, to increase public awareness and help market operators and governments prioritize intellectual property enforcement efforts that protect American businesses and their workers.
 
The Notorious Markets List does not constitute an exhaustive list of all markets reported to deal in or facilitate commercial-scale copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting, nor does it reflect findings of legal violations or the U.S. Government’s analysis of the general intellectual property protection and enforcement climate in the country concerned. Such analysis is contained in the annual Special 301 Report issued at the end of April each year.
 
USTR initiated the 2021 Notorious Markets List Review on August 30, 2021, through publication in the Federal Register of a request for public comments.  The request for comments and the public’s responses are online at www.regulations.gov, Docket number USTR-2021-0013.

Read the complete announcement.

The complete 2021 Notorious Markets List can be found here.

Additional Reading

• [Annual Update] International Cyber Law in Practice: Interactive Toolkit
• Defining Cyber Discovery? A Definition and Framework