The current liability regime passes higher costs onto consumers
Haodi Dong, 2022 - J.D., 2022, Wake Forest University School of Law. “BALANCING THE INTERESTS OF TRADEMARK OWNERS AND E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS DURING THE INTERNET AGE” Wake Forest Journal of Business & Intellectual Property Law, Spring, https://assets.pubpub.org/fvbeyk0s/71661277775620.pdf //DH
Yet, giving trademark owners a greater obligation to prove infringement would result in greater costs since it is often impossible to prove infringement absent direct evidence.120 Under this framework, trademark owners would likely need to buy the product first and prove that it is a counterfeit that infringes on their mark.121 They would then pass this extra cost on to the consumers in the form of higher prices.122 However, apart from trademark owners, no one has the same expertise in determining the authenticity of a product.123 Given this expertise, trademark owners need to bear at least some responsibility in spotting or proving infringement.