Alibaba takes action over counterfeit Swarovski sellers
Alibaba has announced that it has sued counterfeit Swarovski sellers on its Taobao platform, as it continues its charm offensive around fake goods.
Alibaba is taking action against fake Swarovski goods sellers on Taobao
Late last year Alibaba was readmitted to the ‘notorious markets’ list issued by the US government, which aims to highlight online and offline markets responsible for large scale copyright infringement.
The Chinese retailer has since been on the defense as it believed the decision was unfair, due to recent increases to the investment and efforts it put into waging war on fake goods on its platforms.
The latest is an announcement that it’s taken action against sellers on Taobao for selling fake Swarovski watches, claiming RMB1.4 million in damages for contract and goodwill violations.
Zheng Junfang, chief platform governance officer of Alibaba Group, said: “We want to mete out to counterfeiters the punishment they deserve in order to protect brand owners. We will bring the full force of the law to bear on these counterfeiters so as to deter others from engaging in this crime wherever they are.”
Prior to being placed on the list, Alibaba had released a report detailing the activity it had run in 2016 that aimed to combat counterfeit trading. A key part of its messaging was how it was using data and tech and that it had managed to unearth counterfeit racquets selling fake items from 130 brands.