奢侈品牌起诉阿里巴巴涉嫌销售假冒商品

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has dismissed as baseless a lawsuit alleging that the company is selling fake luxury products. The apparel company Kering Group, which owns brands like Gucci, sued Alibaba in a New York court last week.

Has the Wall Street listed company really facilitated the sale of counterfeit goods? And if not, how is it fighting to protect its name? Joining me in the studio is CCTV's Jin Yingqiao.

Q1. Yingqiao, tell us more details about this lawsuit, what are both sides saying.

A1. Well, this is not the first time Kering Group has gone after Alibaba. The company filed a similar suit in July last year, but dropped it after the two companies agreed to work together to reduce counterfeiting. But in their latest lawsuit, they allege that Alibaba knowingly enabled counterfeiters to sell their fake products around the world.

The lawsuit cites one example, where a Chinese merchant offered alleged fake Gucci bags for US $ 2 to 5 each to buyers seeking at least 2,000 units. Meanwhile, the authentic version retails for almost US $ 800.

Although copyright infringement is reportedly rife in China, Alibaba says it will fight the case. The company's spokesperson said it was unfortunate that the "Kering Group has chosen the path of wasteful litigation instead of the path of constructive cooperation,"  "We believe this complaint has no basis and we will fight it vigorously."

Alibaba also stressed that it has always worked in partnership with brands to help them protect their intellectual property. Looks like a lot more drama is still to come.

Q2. Well, the allegations against Alibaba aren't only confined to the US, but also at home in China, too. Tell us more.

A2.  Right, there's also been a very colorful fight going on between Alibaba and the government. Earlier this year, a quality survey was commissioned by the state commercial regulator and conducted by the China Consumers Association, covering the entire online retail industry.

But it seemed to single out Alibaba. According to the survey's results, more than 60% of products randomly chosen on Taobao, the major online shopping site operated by Alibaba, failed to meet China’s retail-goods standards. And that obviously didn’t sit well with Alibaba.

An open letter supposedly written by an anonymous employee, not only questioned the survey's sampling method, but also called out one of the commercial regulator's top officials.

Then, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued a White Paper re-asserting that Alibaba offered fake goods on its platforms and had lax internal controls. But the drama eventually came to a close when Alibaba's founder Jack Ma met with the top regulator Zhang Mao in person.

And the two papers were deleted from the government website. There's a lot of speculation over whether Alibaba deliberately hid this information before it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September, but at least now it seems the company IS making a stronger effort against counterfeit goods.