Remedies Against Trademarks Counterfeiting Through Marketplaces in Russia and the USA: Comparative Analysis

Counterfeiting is a worldwide disease that has existed for many centuries. With the development of the Internet, e-commerce sales are growing every year and are expected to reach 17.5% of global retail sales by 2021. Fake goods can be bought on online marketplaces like Ozon, Amazon in much larger quantities than in traditional stores. The background of the research is that despite the steady existence of counterfeit goods on the markets, no effective solution has yet been found to prevent counterfeiting. In the Russian Federation and the United States, there are different approaches to online counterfeiters, which have not been compared and analyzed in legal studies. The main purpose of the study is to study the civil law methods of combating online counterfeiting in countries with different legal systems and to determine an effective anti-counterfeiting strategy for a Russian trademark rights holder in the case they find fake goods bearing their trademarks on online marketplaces. The hypothesis of the research is that the most effective means of protection against counterfeiting on online marketplaces are statutory damages in the United States and the recovery of compensation in Russia. These methods of protection should also be applied against online marketplaces if they are secondarily liable along with the direct violator. Such a strict level of responsibility will serve as an impetus for the development of the so-called law of the platforms. The global expected outcome is that eventually the volume of counterfeit products on online marketplaces of the Russian Federation and the United States will be reduced. This result can be achieved if right holders, together with online platforms, implement effective tools to protect trademarks from counterfeiting.