The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Manhattan Federal Court in the US by Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other brands owned by Paris-based Kering SA, seeks damages and an injunction for alleged violations of trademark and racketeering laws.
It claims that Alibaba conspired to manufacture, offer for sale and traffic counterfeit products bearing their trademarks without their permission.
An Alibaba spokeswoman said the complaint had “no basis in law” and vowed the company would “fight it vigorously”.
The lawsuit came as the latest headache for Alibaba Group. On Thursday, Taiwanese media reported that Alibaba’s online marketplace Taobao had been fined NT$240,000 (HK$61,000) and ordered to withdraw from the island within six months for violating investment rules for mainland companies.
Concerns over fake products on Alibaba’s platforms, including on Taobao, have dogged the company for years, although the US Trade Representative removed Taobao from its list of “notorious markets” in 2012.
Friday’s lawsuit by the luxury goods makers marked the second time in less than a year that the Kering brands had sued Alibaba over the alleged sale of counterfeit products.
An earlier lawsuit was filed in July only to be withdrawn the same month with the ability to refile it while the Kering units worked towards a resolution with Alibaba. The lawsuit alleged that Alibaba and its related entities “provide the marketplace advertising and other essential services necessary for counterfeiters to sell their counterfeit products to customers in the United States”.
The lawsuit cited, for example, an alleged fake Gucci bag offered for US$2 to US$5 each by a Chinese merchant to buyers seeking at least 2,000 units. The authentic Gucci bag retailed for US$795, the complaint said.
Alibaba had allowed counterfeit sales to continue even when it had been expressly informed that merchants were selling fake products, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit seeks a court order that would block Alibaba from offering or facilitating the sale of counterfeit products and unspecified damages that could include US$2 per counterfeit item under a statutory regime.
A war of words erupted between Alibaba and the mainland’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce in late January after the agency accused the group of allowing counterfeit and substandard goods to be sold through its Taobao site.
