Alibaba takes a stand against product counterfeiting

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 13, 2016

Alibaba Group on Wednesday became the first e-commerce retailer to join the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, the largest non-profit organization dedicated to combating product counterfeiting and piracy.

“Preserving the integrity of Alibaba’s marketplaces is a top priority. Counterfeiting is a global, industry-wide issue, and effective collaboration with brands, retailers, trade associations, governments and other industry partners is a key component to our overall success,” said Matthew Bassiur, Vice President and Head of Global IP Enforcement at Alibaba Group.

The Chinese e-commerce company has been warned several times about fake goods being sold on the platform, and luxury brands such as Kering have sued the company for trademark infringement. Alibaba has taken a number of measures to fight its counterfeit issues and began in 2013 to work with the IACC to identify and take down infringing listings on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall marketplaces.

Since the launch of their partnership, Alibaba has closed nearly 5,000 sellers' store fronts for offering infringing products and removed more than 160,000 infringing product listings from its Taobao and Tmall platforms.

"Alibaba has consistently shown an unparalleled level of commitment over the years towards working with us and our members on IP protection and anti-counterfeiting matters,” said Bob Barchiesi, President of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition.

“With the pace at which the market is moving, the successful e-commerce platforms will be those who build the right strategic partnerships to ensure safe and trusted marketplaces. We encourage more industry players to join in our efforts.”

The owner of the leading Chinese online marketplaces, Taobao and Tmall, says its success depends on the amount of trust the industry and consumers place in the business, which is why it needs to battle against counterfeiting and piracy.

The company works with over 580 global brands and trade associations to address the problem and find solutions. If this partnership helps the group to finally eradicate the issue, the retailer could increase the massive number of active buyers on its Chinese marketplaces even further.

In the quarter to ended December 31, Alibaba Group said it had increased its annual active buyers by 21 million users, reaching a total of 407 million annual active buyers on its Taobao and Tmall marketplaces.