RICHEMONT JOINS ALIBABA’S

Compagnie Financière Richemont has become the latest international corporation to join Alibaba’s Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance, which aims to protect intellectual property rights on the e-commerce giant’s platforms.

Alibaba said this week that Richemont is now among 115 members from 16 countries and regions that are part of the AACA. Richemont said it would share its technology, expertise and other information to support the Alliance’s efforts.

Richemont has long been an anti-counterfeit crusader, with a robust in-house legal team that has gone after watch and jewelry counterfeiters and the sales platforms that sell their goods.

Richemont, New Balance, General Motors and McDonald’s, are the latest global brands to join the AACA, according to Alibaba. The alliance’s membership has more than tripled from the original 30 founding brands at its launch in 2017.

Alibaba said it works with brand partners to find and eliminate fakes at their source. In the luxury sector, Alibaba and Louis Vuitton — one of the first members of AACA — conducted an offline investigation that resulted in the seizure in May of approximately $14.4 million worth of counterfeit goods.