Alibaba Moves To Counter The Counterfeiters

Coming under growing fire from many Western brands over the number of counterfeit goods sold on its site in recent months, Alibaba announced another new initiative last week aimed at helping it better combat the number of counterfeit goods found on its site.

Alibaba held its inaugural Rights Holders Collaboration Summit on Friday (July 1) in Hangzhou, China, where it invited more than 100 brands to discuss the issues of international brand rights and intellectual property enforcement. Among those brands present were Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Apple, Hewlett Packard, the Chinese British Business Council and the Quality Brand Protection Committee.

Alibaba also announced the launch of its IP Joint-Force System, a new online platform “designed to streamline IP-related communications between brands and Alibaba,” according to a statement from Alibaba.

The system, which launched July 1, is intended to “streamline” communication between brands and Alibaba if they feel there is a product that too closely mirrors their product being sold on Alibaba’s site. Under the system, each brand that participates will be given a “dedicated online portal and Alibaba account manager to enhance collaboration,” Alibaba said in a statement.

The system, according to Alibaba, will allow it to “directly and efficiently seek information from rights holders regarding suspected counterfeit product listings, which Alibaba, as a third-party marketplace, is unable to authenticate on its own.”

“Ecommerce has become a way of life for consumers both in China and around the world,” Jessie Zheng, Alibaba’s chief platform governance officer, said in a statement. “As the internet sector continues to evolve, brands and online marketplaces alike face new IP enforcement challenges. As the leading online marketplace, we have a responsibility to all of our constituents to govern our platform and find innovative solutions.”

Alibaba has caught increasing flak lately for the large number of counterfeit goods sold on its site in China, which Founder Jack Ma said last month are oftentimes made in the same factory as the more expensive designer brands they seek to ape and often just as good quality, if not better than the original.

The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition suspended Alibaba’s membership in May after numerous brands and members complained of its inclusion.