Temu Pulls Copied Card Designs After Small Welsh Business Owner Raises Alarm
In a case highlighting the challenges small businesses face in protecting intellectual property, Welsh designer Anwen Roberts discovered her unique card designs, featuring Welsh language messages, were being sold on the major e-commerce platform Temu without her consent. Roberts, who runs her design business Draenog in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, expressed shock and heartbreak at finding her work copied and marketed on the Chinese-based site.
Roberts identified several of her designs, including a Welsh Christmas card and birthday card featuring specific illustrations, among items listed on Temu’s platform. “It was a massive shock to see my work sold online without my knowledge,” she said. “Someone else is potentially profiting from something I poured weeks, months, and hours into creating.”
Temu, a marketplace owned by Chinese tech conglomerate PDD Holdings and valued at $150 billion earlier this year, removed the cards after receiving Roberts’s report. A spokesperson stated, “We acted swiftly upon identifying potential infringements, as we aim to protect brands and artist rights.” Temu’s marketplace, which allows third-party sellers to offer products directly, was launched in the US in 2022 and has since expanded globally, shipping to over 50 countries.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the UK responded to the incident, emphasizing that IP infringement remains a “local and global challenge” and advising small businesses to leverage reporting tools provided by major e-commerce platforms. Fflur Elin of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) also commented on the issue, noting that around one in five small businesses have experienced copying on large e-commerce sites. Elin called for a government-led resolution system to support small businesses in disputes with major platforms.
In response, Temu stated it had “invested heavily in IP protection,” with a team dedicated to promptly handling takedown requests, resolving over 99% of reported cases within days.
