by Martin Li

A cosmetics merchant has been requested by a court in Beijing last week to pay JD.com RMB one million yuan as a default penalty.

In a regular sampling check by JD, the merchant was found to be selling counterfeit products of a renowned cosmetic brand.

JD informed the merchant that it had broken the law by selling counterfeits, but received no reply. Then JD removed counterfeit products and closed the online store

However, the merchant brought JD to court and asked for return of fees including those charged for its use of JD’s e-commerce platform.

This led to a countercharge by JD. The e-commerce giant asked for RMB 2 million yuan from the merchant as a default penalty for its selling of counterfeit products, which is against the agreement between the merchant and JD to only sell authentic products.

The court in Daxing District, Beijing, said JD proved the merchant’s counterfeit selling and all the measures it took complied with related rules. The case is the first default case involving an online counterfeit seller handled by a court in Beijing.

(bjlihao3@jd.com)