On 2 October 2026, Bridge Brand Protection attended INDICAM Meets SHEIN: Exploring SHEIN's IP Program & Anti-Counterfeiting Initiatives, an industry event in Milan organised by INDICAM in collaboration with SHEIN.
The conference offered an opportunity to hear directly from SHEIN about its approach to intellectual property protection, including its use of artificial intelligence, internal review procedures, reporting mechanisms, and efforts to collaborate more closely with rights holders. For brands working across online marketplaces, several developments are worth a closer look.
From fashion retailer to global marketplace: SHEIN's evolution
SHEIN's business has undergone a significant transformation since its founding in 2012. Originally focused on wedding dresses before expanding into women's fashion, the company has evolved into a global e-commerce business operating in more than 160 markets.
An important development came in 2023, when SHEIN expanded beyond its original direct-to-consumer retail model by launching the SHEIN Marketplace, opening its platform to third-party sellers. This shift has important implications for intellectual property protection.
When a platform moves from selling its own products to hosting listings from independent merchants, the challenges associated with monitoring potentially infringing products become considerably more complex. More sellers, more product categories, and more listings mean more opportunities for counterfeit goods, unauthorised use of trade marks, and other forms of intellectual property infringement to appear.
The challenge of dupes: where does inspiration become infringement?
A careful part of the discussion concerned so-called dupes. The term is frequently used to describe products designed to resemble popular or more expensive alternatives, but the legal position is not always straightforward.
A product's similarity to another product does not automatically establish intellectual property infringement. The assessment depends on the rights involved, the relevant jurisdiction, and the specific characteristics of the products.
During the event, SHEIN emphasised its willingness to work directly with brands to determine which listings constitute infringement and which do not. The company indicated that it is open to collaborating with rights holders to identify and remove dupes where an infringement of intellectual property rights is established.
SHEIN's three-pillar IP protection strategy
During the conference, SHEIN outlined three principal pillars underpinning its approach to intellectual property protection.
1. Multi-layer review: combining AI and human oversight
SHEIN described a review process that combines automated detection technologies with oversight from its internal teams. AI-powered systems screen product listings before publication, while human reviewers conduct additional assessments and examine listings that require further investigation.
SHEIN also conducts subsequent reviews and delisting assessments, creating additional opportunities to identify potentially infringing content that may have escaped initial screening. The company explained that when counterfeit products are identified, its teams investigate how those products passed the original controls. This feedback is relevant in marketplace enforcement, where infringers frequently adapt their tactics to evade detection.
2. Education, compliance, and seller accountability
SHEIN emphasised the importance of educating both its suppliers and internal teams about intellectual property rights and compliance obligations. The company also described penalties for non-compliance, including financial consequences for parties responsible for publishing infringing listings.
This approach recognises that effective brand protection depends not only on identifying infringements after they occur, but also on discouraging them in the first place.
3. Continuous improvement of IP protection systems
The third pillar focuses on continuously improving SHEIN's internal processes, detection technologies, and enforcement mechanisms. As counterfeiters develop increasingly sophisticated methods of concealing infringing products, marketplaces must adapt their monitoring capabilities accordingly. One example discussed at the conference was SHEIN's expansion beyond traditional image-recognition technology.
How SHEIN is using AI to detect counterfeits
Image-recognition technology has become an important component of online brand protection, helping platforms identify suspicious product imagery and potential trade mark infringements.
However, infringers do not always make detection straightforward. According to SHEIN, some sellers have attempted to conceal counterfeit products within videos, exploiting the limitations of systems primarily designed to analyse static images.
In response, SHEIN has introduced video-recognition technology to identify potential infringements that might otherwise escape image-based screening. The company also described its use of customer-review analysis as an additional means of detecting suspicious products.
For brands, the practical point is this: counterfeit detection cannot rely exclusively on product titles, descriptions, or images. Potential evidence of infringement may appear across multiple forms of marketplace content, including videos and customer reviews.
How SHEIN's enhanced IP portal helps brands combat counterfeits and IP infringement
A major part of the discussion was SHEIN's enhanced intellectual property reporting portal, designed to help brands and other rights holders more efficiently report and address IP infringement occurring on SHEIN Marketplace.
For brands whose trade marks, designs, or other protected intellectual property are being used without authorisation by third-party sellers, the portal provides a direct mechanism to report potentially infringing listings and request their removal.
According to SHEIN, several improvements introduced during summer 2026 aim to make this process faster, more efficient, and more transparent for rights holders:
- Bulk IP infringement reporting: brands can now report up to 300 SKUs in a single submission, significantly reducing the administrative burden of reporting large volumes of potentially infringing products.
- Faster takedown processing: SHEIN indicated that infringement reports are processed within approximately 24–48 hours, helping rights holders address suspected infringements more quickly.
- Real-time case management: rights holders can track the progress of their submitted reports, providing greater visibility into the status of their enforcement requests.
For brands dealing with widespread counterfeiting or repeated intellectual property infringement, these improvements represent an important step toward more accessible and efficient marketplace enforcement.
However, while streamlined reporting procedures are valuable, they are only one component of an effective brand protection strategy. Identifying infringing listings, gathering sufficient evidence, submitting accurate reports, and verifying that products have actually been removed remain essential responsibilities for rights holders.
Furthermore, removing an infringing listing from SHEIN Marketplace does not necessarily prevent the same seller from reappearing elsewhere. Brands must consider how marketplace takedowns fit into a broader enforcement strategy that addresses repeat offenders, unauthorised distribution networks, and infringement across multiple online and offline channels.
SHEIN's test purchase programme and seller investigations
SHEIN also described its test purchase programme. Under this initiative, SHEIN's internal teams select potentially suspicious products for purchase and further investigation.
Brands are encouraged to share information about suspicious listings or sellers so that SHEIN can consider those products for inclusion in the programme. Test purchases can play an important role in intellectual property enforcement because a product's authenticity or infringing characteristics cannot always be determined from an online listing alone.
SHEIN also indicated that brands may request additional seller information beyond what is publicly displayed on the platform, subject to what the company is able to disclose. This matters where rights holders are attempting to understand whether individual listings form part of a wider network of unauthorised commercial activity.
What's next? SHEIN's planned brand registry
SHEIN also discussed plans to introduce a dedicated brand registry.
While the registry is not yet available, the proposed initiative would provide brands with a mechanism to enrol and engage more directly with the platform's IP protection infrastructure. In the meantime, SHEIN encouraged rights holders to communicate specific infringement concerns directly to its teams.
The company emphasised its interest in developing closer relationships with brands and stated that information shared by rights holders is treated confidentially and is not disclosed to sellers. For businesses experiencing repeated infringement, establishing direct communication with marketplace operators can be an important complement to formal reporting procedures.
What can brands learn from SHEIN's IP protection initiatives?
- Marketplaces are increasingly investing in more sophisticated detection technologies, including AI-powered image and video analysis.
- Improvements to reporting portals and case management tools are creating new opportunities for rights holders to pursue enforcement more efficiently.
- Direct collaboration between brands and marketplaces remains an important part of identifying and addressing infringement.
Brands must also consider the broader picture: unauthorised sellers operating across multiple marketplaces, social media accounts, independent websites, and physical distribution channels. An infringement removed from one marketplace does not necessarily mean the underlying seller or supply chain has been addressed.
Effective brand protection requires visibility across channels, coordinated enforcement, and the ability to identify the commercial networks behind recurring infringements.
Bridge Brand Protection: going beyond marketplace takedowns
At Bridge Brand Protection, we understand that protecting intellectual property requires more than responding to individual counterfeit listings. Our approach combines broad online monitoring with offline investigations and targeted enforcement strategies to help brands identify infringements, protect authorised distribution channels, and address the sources of unauthorised commercial activity.
Whether your brand is dealing with counterfeit products, unauthorised sellers, infringing listings, or more complex distribution networks, Bridge Brand Protection helps turn visibility into meaningful enforcement action.
Get in touch with Bridge Brand Protection to discuss how we can help protect your brand across online and offline channels.