Alibaba's Membership in IACC has Shocked Brands

A number of brands including Gucci and Michael Kors have let IACC after Alibaba became its member.

 In the last month, Alibaba Group Holding Limited was accepted as the  International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition’s member. It is not a measure anyone would expect from an organization, which states it’s the longest- standing of its type. The Chinese E-commerce company is notoriously known for counterfeit sales, including knock offs of goods by members of IACC, like Adidas, Burberry and Apple.

Until recently, Michael Gors and Gucci were a part of that list, too. But the 2 organizations have both moved out of the coalition since the online retailer was given the membership of IACC. In April 2016, Michael Kors left the coalition, calling the Hangzhou based organization “our most dangerous and damaging adversary,” revealed Gucci and AP recently.

Gucci does not like the online trading platform operator, which battles counterfeits in a vigorous manner, would be distressed regarding the coalition providing membership to the organization. The founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, will even address the forthcoming spring conference of the group.

Quartz has contacted Gucci for sharing views and will change this post with a reply. The organization has joined the coalition as “general member,”  a designation created by the group for organizations it states  “not directly or substantially impacted by counterfeiting,”  but which are in a position that turns into a possible partner in the battle against counterfeits.

Meanwhile, the company is yet battling to keep itself out of a United States blacklist of organizations called to deliver knock offs. In December, an American trade agency spoke to Reuters that it was “increasingly concerned” regarding the enforcement programs of the company against counterfeit sales.

As per reports by Wall Street Journal, approximately 12 other brands and members of IACC expressed support for the stance taken by Michael Kors, although a large number of organizations were hesitant to be identified as they were presently working with the online marketplace operator to get rid of counterfeit merchandise.

A number of luxury brands including Yves Sain Laurent and Gucci were presently participating in a litigation with the online retailer over fake items sold through the organization’s marketplaces.  The brands threatened to discontinue meditation after Jack stating his organization would rather legally battle and lose, then settle the issue and lose its respect.

In recent times, the Chinese company has loudly expressed its intention to resolve the matters of selling fakes across its marketplaces. It has over 2000 full-time workers battling counterfeits and has spent over $154 million in a passage of 2 years to solve the problem,

Nevertheless, a number of brands aren’t trusting and are claiming that its counterfeit enforcement program is not only lacking transparency but is also not easy to use and doesn’t do much to solve the root problem. Michael Kors wrote a letter to IACC in which it stating the online retailer’s access to the coalition offers “cover to our most dangerous and damaging adversary.”