Alibaba’s Four Essential Pillars for Protecting U.S. Businesses’ IP Rights
Alibaba is a global leader in IP protection. Earlier this year, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, headed by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, recognized Alibaba for its anti-counterfeiting initiatives.
James Mancuso, then Director of the IPR Center, explained, “Alibaba has consistently proven its leadership in IPR protection many times over and is clearly committed to combatting illicit actors engaged in the trafficking of counterfeit and pirated goods.”
The strength of Alibaba’s intellectual property rights (IPR) program allows thousands of U.S. businesses, such as Bissell, Fender, and Herman Miller, to safely sell their products to a global audience on Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplaces.
Alibaba’s IPR enforcement program rests on four key pillars:
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Proactive Monitoring: Alibaba’s extensive proactive monitoring program constantly scans for, identifies, and removes IPR-infringing listings from our platforms—most before a single sale occurs.
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Efficient Notice and Takedown: For any problematic listings that remain, Alibaba operates a highly efficient notice and takedown system, offering rights holders the choice of reporting on its online portal, the Intellectual Property Protection (IPP) Platform, or a fillable PDF form, or a simple email; 96% of complaints submitted to the IPP Platform were processed within 24 hours.
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Offline Investigations and Law Enforcement Support: Alibaba knows that online sales of counterfeits are a product of offline manufacturing and distribution. As a result, the company actively supports offline investigations by responding to police requests, assisting rights holders with their law enforcement referrals, and even making proactive referrals when its data reveals patterns of criminal behavior.
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Stakeholder Engagement: Alibaba understands that it can’t win the fight against counterfeiters alone, so the company actively engages with all IPR stakeholders, including rights holders and trade associations, government agencies—both administrative and law enforcement, and academia. Alibaba was the first e-commerce platform to establish a partnership with rights holders to fight counterfeiting, the Alibaba Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance, which now includes 221 members representing nearly 1,200 brands.
Matthew Bassiur, Alibaba Vice President and Head of Global IP Enforcement, sums up the company’s motivation: “We believe and hope that our sincere commitment to aggressive IPR enforcement has earned us the trust of all IPR stakeholders.”
