TikTok Shop has become an important sales channel for brands, creators, and businesses across Southeast Asia. But as online commerce grows, so does the risk of intellectual property (IP) infringement, from counterfeit products and copied branding to unauthorized use of copyrighted content.
For brand owners, the issue is no longer simply whether an infringing listing can be removed. The bigger question is how to protect IP rights before, during, and after a violation occurs.
TikTok Shop’s current Singapore policies expressly prohibit trademark, copyright, patent and design infringement, as well as counterfeit and knockoff products. Sellers who violate these rules may face enforcement action against their accounts.
What Intellectual Property Covers
Intellectual property refers to creations and commercial identifiers that can receive legal protection. Depending on the asset, protection may involve trademarks, patents, copyright, industrial designs, and other IP rights.
For businesses selling through TikTok Shop, some of the most common IP risks include:
- Trademark infringement through unauthorized use of a brand name, logo, or other protected sign.
- Counterfeit products sold using another brand’s trademark or packaging.
- Copyright infringement involving product images, videos, music, graphics, or other creative content.
- Design infringement involving the unauthorized use of a protected product appearance.
- Patent infringement involving products or technologies covered by patent rights.
This matters particularly for brands operating across Southeast Asia. IP rights are generally territorial, so having protection in one country does not automatically provide the same protection in another.
How TikTok Shop Handles IP Infringement
Platform enforcement has become an important first line of defence against online IP infringement.
TikTok Shop provides an IP reporting process through which rights holders can notify the platform about suspected infringement. Its Singapore policy also provides an appeal mechanism where a seller believes an infringement notice or enforcement action was issued incorrectly.
For counterfeit products, TikTok Shop specifically prohibits both counterfeit and knockoff products. Repeated violations can result in increasingly serious enforcement measures.
However, a platform report is not the same as legal enforcement of an IP right.
A successful takedown may remove one listing, but it does not necessarily stop the same seller from using another account, reproducing the product, or infringing the brand through other channels.
That is why rights holders should treat platform reporting as one part of a broader IP enforcement strategy.
What Brand Owners Should Do
If you discover an infringing listing, the first step should be to preserve evidence.
Save screenshots, product URLs, seller information, images, pricing information, and other relevant details before reporting the listing. The evidence can become important if the dispute develops beyond the platform.
You should also confirm the IP right being relied upon. A trademark registration, copyright ownership, patent, or registered design can lead to different enforcement considerations.
For businesses operating internationally, we recommend checking protection country by country. A Singapore trademark, for example, does not automatically give the owner trademark rights in Indonesia. The same principle applies when a brand expands into other Southeast Asian markets.
This is where local IP counsel can become important. A platform may remove an infringing listing, but a more serious dispute may require opposition, cancellation, negotiation, cease-and-desist action, or litigation under the applicable national law.
Why Intellectual Property Protection Matters Beyond TikTok Shop
The challenge is bigger than one marketplace.
DJKI has continued to highlight the prevalence of IP infringement in digital commerce, including counterfeit goods, trademark infringement, digital piracy, and unauthorized use of creative works. It has also strengthened cooperation with major e-commerce platforms, including TikTok Shop.
More recently, DJKI participated in the 2026 Tokopedia & TikTok Shop Summit, emphasizing IP as a strategic business asset and highlighting collaboration between government and digital platforms to prevent infringement.
For businesses, this reflects a broader shift. Intellectual property is not only something to register after a brand is established. It should be part of the strategy for entering, selling, and expanding in digital markets.
A strong IP strategy should therefore cover:
- Protection – register relevant IP rights in the markets where the business operates.
- Monitoring – identify potentially infringing products, content, and branding.
- Platform enforcement – use available reporting mechanisms to address online infringement.
- Legal enforcement – escalate serious or repeated infringements through appropriate legal channels.
- Portfolio management – maintain and expand IP protection as the business enters new markets.
For brands expanding from Singapore or other Southeast Asian markets into Indonesia, understanding the local IP framework is particularly important. The right enforcement strategy may involve both platform-level action and formal legal remedies under Indonesian law.
AMR Partnership assists businesses with trademark, copyright, patent, industrial design, and other intellectual property matters in Indonesia, including IP enforcement and disputes.
Agus Tri Wibowo, S.H., M.H – Head of Litigation of AMR Partnership
Let’s be wiser and more careful, especially those who like to shop online. The buyer must be careful in buying goods and the seller must sell goods that are not counterfeit, because amid its popularity, Tiktok Shop also brings new challenges in protecting intellectual property (IP) and preventing the circulation of counterfeit goods. The public needs to learn what is copyright, patent, and trademark, why? because intellectual property (IP) protection exists to safeguard consumers’ rights to be comfortable shopping without worrying about counterfeit goods.
