On 20 July 2026 the European Commission fined AliExpress €550 million under the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to assess and reduce the risk of illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products on its marketplace. The AliExpress DSA fine matters to every counterfeit-hit brand because the Commission named two familiar weaknesses: a brand authorisation system that traders could bypass, and penalised shops that kept selling. Here is what the decision says and how brand owners selling in the EU can use it.
Update (October 2026): AliExpress has reportedly said it will appeal, calling the fine disproportionate, according to a Lewis Silkin briefing of 24 July 2026. The action plan is still due by 20 October 2026.
Key takeaways
- AliExpress did not diligently assess or mitigate the systemic risk of illegal and counterfeit products: €550 million fine.
- Its mandatory brand authorisation system was ineffective, understaffed and easy to bypass.
- Shops sanctioned for selling illegal products kept operating.
- An action plan is due by 20 October 2026; non-compliance can trigger periodic penalty payments.
- The fine does not compensate brand owners, but it gives them a public benchmark when pressing for faster removals.
What did the Commission decide on 20 July 2026?
The DSA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) is the EU law on online intermediaries. Its strictest duties apply to “very large online platforms”, which must identify and mitigate systemic risks, including the spread of illegal content such as counterfeit listings (Articles 34 and 35). According to the Commission’s announcement of 20 July 2026, AliExpress fell short on both counts.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 14 March 2024 | Formal proceedings opened |
| 18 June 2025 | Commitments on other issues made binding; preliminary findings on illegal products |
| 20 July 2026 | Non-compliance decision and €550 million fine |
| By 20 October 2026 | AliExpress submits its action plan |
| +1 month, then +1 month | Opinion of the European Board for Digital Services, then Commission decision on the plan (DSA, Article 75) |
The dates come from press release IP/26/1654, in which Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said that “scale is not an excuse” for leaving risks unaddressed.
What does the AliExpress DSA fine say about counterfeits?
On risk assessment, the Commission found that AliExpress overestimated its detection systems, ignored the gap between its number of moderators and their workload, and used a single indicator that did not measure whether removed products came back. Its own tests showed illegal products being recommended to users before removal. On mitigation, it found that:
- counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics stayed online for several weeks, even after detection;
- the brand authorisation system, meant to stop counterfeit sales, was understaffed and easy to bypass;
- the penalty policy for traders selling illegal products was not properly enforced;
- traders avoided compliance checks by listing products in the wrong category.
Why brand authorisation and repeat sellers matter to rights holders
Brand authorisation (or “brand gating”) means a seller must show permission from the brand owner before listing branded goods. Repeat-seller policies decide what happens to a shop after a valid complaint. Both build on DSA duties that apply to every online platform:
- Article 16 requires a notice-and-action channel; a precise, substantiated notice gives the platform actual knowledge of the listing.
- Article 23 requires platforms to suspend, after a prior warning, users who frequently provide manifestly illegal content.
- Article 30 requires marketplaces to collect and check trader identification data before traders can sell to EU consumers.
The decision adds a regulator’s finding that bypassable brand gating and penalised shops that keep selling are failures of risk mitigation. In practice, that is a useful reference when a platform is slow to act on a well-documented complaint.
What the fine does not do is help you directly. Fines can reach 6% of worldwide turnover (Article 74) and periodic penalties 5% of average daily turnover (Article 76), but the DSA gives brand owners no damages. Removing listings, identifying sellers or recovering losses still depends on your own trademarks, platform notices, customs applications, warning letters or court action.
What this means for your business
- Check your registrations: a notice is only as strong as the EU or national trademark behind it.
- Keep evidence: record when each counterfeit listing was reported and how long it stayed online; the Commission treated “multiple weeks” as a failure.
- Track repeat sellers and ask expressly for suspension under the platform’s repeat-infringer policy.
- Write notices that meet Article 16: exact URLs, the right relied on and why the listing infringes.
- Combine routes: notices remove listings, customs stops shipments, letters and lawsuits reach the seller.
If counterfeits reach you through several marketplaces and countries, our IP enforcement and anti-counterfeiting team can run notices, customs and follow-up actions as one programme, backed by your trademark portfolio in the EU and Latin America.
Where brand owners get this wrong
- Assuming the fine fixes the problem. The action plan still has to be approved, implemented and audited.
- Sending vague notices without exact URLs or the registration relied on.
- Treating each listing separately, so the same shop returns under a new storefront.
- Relying only on the platform, when sellers outside the EU are often better reached at the border.
These gaps usually appear when marketplace monitoring, filings and litigation sit with different advisers; one coordinated team keeps the evidence consistent.
Frequently asked questions
Does the AliExpress fine compensate brand owners?
No. The €550 million is a regulatory fine, not compensation, and the DSA gives rights holders no damages claim against the platform. To recover losses or stop a seller, you still need trademark or copyright proceedings, customs action or a negotiated settlement with the infringer.
Does the DSA require AliExpress to remove counterfeits?
Platforms must run a notice-and-action system and decide on notices in a timely, diligent and objective way. A precise notice gives the platform actual knowledge; if it then fails to act expeditiously, it can lose its hosting liability exemption (Article 6). Very large platforms must also mitigate systemic risks.
What is a brand authorisation system on a marketplace?
It is a check that requires sellers to prove permission from the brand owner before listing branded products. The Commission found AliExpress’s mandatory system ineffective, understaffed and easy to bypass. Brand owners should still enrol, while keeping their own records of listings and response times.
Can IP Global Guard handle marketplace enforcement for my brand?
Yes. We prepare and coordinate platform notices, EU customs applications and follow-up actions against sellers, directly where our professionals are entitled and through qualified representatives otherwise. In Latin America and Africa we coordinate local correspondents, so you keep one point of contact.
How IP Global Guard can help you act on the decision
The Commission has confirmed that weak brand gating and lenient repeat-seller policies are compliance failures. Turning that into fewer counterfeits for your brand takes documented notices, valid registrations and a plan for sellers who return. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates enforcement across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Send us the marketplaces where your products are copied, a few example listings and your registrations. We will review the evidence, prepare the notices and propose the next step. Contact our enforcement team.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the position on its publication date.
Sources
- European Commission, Commission fines AliExpress €550 million (20 July 2026)
- European Commission, press release IP/26/1654 (20 July 2026)
- Cyprus Mail, EU fines AliExpress €550 million (20 July 2026)
- EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Digital Services Act (19 October 2022)
- Lewis Silkin, AliExpress DSA fine briefing (24 July 2026, update only)
