IP enforcement developments on Indonesia’s ecommerce platforms

31 May 2025

IP enforcement developments on Indonesia’s ecommerce platforms

Reagan Roy Teguh looks at the progress made by ecommerce giants in tackling IP violations in Indonesia and the challenges they still face. 

Indonesia’s ecommerce sector continues to achieve rapid growth, booking turnover of more than US$40 billion in 2024 – an increase of over 10 percent from the previous year. But this expansion has increased concerns over intellectual property violations, mainly through the sale of counterfeit goods.  

Leading platforms Shopee and Tokopedia, which enjoy a combined market share of about 70 percent in Indonesia, have taken a range of steps to address these issues, with varying levels of success.  

Counterfeit products not only cause losses for legitimate businesses, but in some cases they also pose health risks to consumers, especially for items such as medicines, cosmetics, baby foods and safety equipment. Popular goods such as branded clothing and electronics are also prone to piracy, resulting in revenue losses for IP rights holders and reputational damage. 

Responding to these problems, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) included Tokopedia, Shopee, and Bukalapak in its 2022 Notorious Markets list for allowing sales of counterfeit goods. While Tokopedia was removed from subsequent editions of the list due to its proactive measures, Shopee remains listed. Bukalapak is also on the current list, but this year terminated most of its ecommerce operations to focus instead on utility payments. 

Tokopedia’s success 

Tokopedia, which has 14 million registered merchants and 1.8 billion products listed, has implemented several measures to combat IP violations. It uses machine learning and image recognition technologies to identify and remove counterfeit goods. In 2023, Tokopedia removed over 80 million infringing products and took action against more than 43,000 sellers.  

The platform has developed online tools that allow rights holders to protect their brands by reporting IP infringements. Repeat offenders risk permanent bans, and systems have been introduced to prevent them from creating new accounts. Tokopedia also provides a portal for Indonesian law enforcers to seek data on IP violations. 

In January 2024, China’s ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, acquired a 75 percent stake in Tokopedia, enabling the integration of TikTok Shop in response to the Indonesian government’s ban on direct transactions via social media platforms. According to a report by financial news platform DealStreetAsia, Tokopedia’s efforts have led to the removal of over 80 percent of infringing products before brand reports are filed, with a 300 percent increase in IP-infringing products removed and a 7.5-fold increase in proactive removal and prevention.  

Shopee: Ongoing challenges 

Shopee, which is part of Singapore-based Sea Limited, has also made efforts to reduce IP violations, including banning counterfeit products and penalizing offending sellers. However, some buyers claim that it is easy to find both genuine and counterfeit items on the platform, suggesting that enforcement gaps remain. 

Industry challenges 

The increasingly vast scale of ecommerce in Indonesia creates major enforcement challenges, with billions of online products and millions of sellers. Vendors often find ways to get around bans, such as creating new accounts and using artificial intelligence to alter listed product images. Meanwhile, many consumers are price-sensitive, meaning they will opt for the cheapest product even if they suspect it is counterfeit. Although the major platforms have made strong progress and some also partnered with brands to remove bogus products, further efforts with additional support from the authorities are needed to combat IP violations as tech continues to evolve. 


About the author

 Reagan Roy Teguh

Reagan Roy Teguh

Reagan Roy Teguh is a partner at Makarim & Taira S. in Jakarta, where he specializes in data protection, franchise and licensing, foreign direct investment and often advises on employment law aspects. Throughout his tenure, Reagan has honed his legal skills in contract drafting, compliance and structuring within franchise and licensing. He has also gained experience in various other practice areas including corporate mergers and acquisitions, media and entertainment, intellectual property rights, hotels and consumer goods and services. Noteworthy deals include the acquisition of payment processing entities by a technology solutions provider and the merger of two global chemical companies. Reagan is a graduate of Curtin University (Perth) and Universitas Indonesia, having completed his degrees in 2006 and 2011 respectively. 

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Makarim & Taira S.

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