Temu Takes Steps to Combat Intellectual Property Theft in Greeting Cards

Tue Oct 28 2025 17:32:50 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Temu, the online shopping giant, has committed to expediting the removal of copyright-infringing greeting cards from its platform, following complaints from designers over rampant imitation of their work.

Temu has announced a new initiative to assist greeting card designers by swiftly removing counterfeit designs from its site. This decision comes in response to repeated allegations from card makers about the infringement of their copyrighted images, costing them significant revenue. A bespoke takedown process is now being trialed, which allows designers to report multiple listings more efficiently and aims to prevent the re-uploading of stolen designs.

Online shopping giant Temu has agreed to work with the greeting card industry to remove copied designs from its site more quickly.

Card firms say hundreds of their copyrighted images have been used to create cheap rip-offs, costing them thousands of pounds in lost sales.

Designers told the BBC the process for getting the plagiarised listings removed has been like the fairground game 'whack-a-mole' with copied products re-appearing within days.

Temu said protecting intellectual property was a top priority and that it was encouraging sellers to join the trial of a new takedown process specifically for the greetings card industry.

Amanda Mountain, the co-founder of York-based Lola Design, discovered the catalogue of designs she had built up over a decade had nearly all been copied. She found the images she had created had been lifted and were being advertised by other sellers on cards and other products like t-shirts.

Amanda bought one of the cards using her design and found the image was distorted and the paper was of a poorer quality than hers.

It's not a nice feeling to see something you've poured all your love and hours into taken within minutes, she told the BBC. I was in shock, and I actually thought to myself 'what is the point of me still designing, I might as well just stop now'.

After pressure from the Greeting Card Association (GCA), Temu has now put in place a bespoke takedown process for the industry which, it says, will mean stolen designs are removed more quickly and won't be able to be re-uploaded.

Previously, card firms would have to report each individual listing but, as part of the trial, they will now only have to submit one link. The software will remove the product and any others using the same design.

According to the GCA, the system will then use AI to log the designer's original creation as a protected image. It will then block any products using that design before they appear for sale.

In a statement, Temu affirmed its commitment to intellectual property protection, stating it has invested heavily in resources to strengthen trust with brands, sellers, and consumers.

Amanda Fergusson, the chief executive of the GCA, praised the changes, emphasizing the industry's concerns about counterfeit products and the positive impact on customer satisfaction.

The future of the whole supply chain, which relies on the 1.5 billion greeting cards sold in the UK each year, hinges on these developments, as Amanda warned that consumers would ultimately be affected if the industry cannot sustain itself.