Alibaba to advance joint industry anti-counterfeiting efforts as official IACC membership
San Francisco, 2016-Apr-15 — /EPR Retail News/ — Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) today announced its official membership in the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) as the first e-commerce company to join the world’s 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. “IACC membership will further enhance our earnest efforts to forge closer relationships with brands as we continue to explore and implement innovative solutions to address counterfeiting. We strongly value our partnership with the IACC and its members and are proud to be a part of this prestigious coalition.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Alibaba Group as the first e-commerce company to join the IACC and take advantage of our new General Member category. 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,” said Bob Barchiesi, President of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. “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. Having Alibaba as a member will help enrich the ongoing dialogue among IACC members, and enable us to come up with better ways to tackle counterfeiting worldwide.”
Alibaba Group and the IACC’s partnership began in 2013 with the development of the IACC MarketSafe® Program, a strategic collaboration to help IACC members identify and take down infringing listings on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall marketplaces via an expedited removal procedure. Since its launch, the initiative has resulted in a 100% take-down rate when companies stand behind their claims; nearly 5,000 sellers’ store fronts have been closed for selling infringing products and permanently banned from the Taobao and Tmall platforms; and more than 160,000 infringing product listings have been removed. Now, as an official member of the IACC, Alibaba will have access to a global network of more than 250 brands and other IP experts working to develop and implement collaborative solutions to online counterfeiting and piracy. Alibaba will also be able to learn from and contribute to constructive discussions through IACC’s Member Engagement Groups on growing counterfeiting trends and IP best practices with other committed industry members.
Alibaba is committed to being the global leader among e-commerce companies in the battle against counterfeiting. With over 407 million annual active shoppers1 on its China retail marketplaces, Alibaba’s success in being a gateway to China for international brands and merchants is dependent on the amount of trust the industry, and consumers, have in the company. In addition to its direct partnerships with over 580 global brands2, trade associations, and governments, Alibaba is also one of the few e-commerce companies to partner with law enforcement in China to assist in offline anti-counterfeiting investigations. Working with manufacturers and sellers, Alibaba aims to address the problem at the root cause, and continues to refine its policies, upgrade its technological capabilities, as well as build up its in-house expertise on IP enforcement.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.
1 In the quarter ended December 31, 2015, Alibaba Group reported 407 million annual active buyers on its China retail marketplaces, an increase of 21 million from the prior quarter.
2 As of end of January 2016.
Media Contacts
Robert H. Christie
Alibaba Group
+1 917 860 9410
bob.christie@alibaba-inc.com
Sharon Chan
Alibaba Group
+1 415 361 8219
sharon.chan@alibaba-inc.com