French luxury brand drops fraud case against Alibaba

France’s Kering Group has withdrawn the lawsuit it filed against Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba over the sale of fake goods online.

And the two companies have agreed to join hands to bar the sales of fake luxury products at its platforms.

“Kering and Alibaba have agreed to work together in good faith through the normal business process on ways to enhance intellectual property protection,” the companies said.

The luxury goods group filed a complaint in July in New York alleging Alibaba’s platforms make it possible for some third-party merchants to sell fake products. It withdrew the case after two weeks following constructive dialogue.

But while it removed Alibaba from the lawsuit, charges against identified merchants remain on the table.

The lawsuit claims one accused was selling Gucci logoed bags for $2 to $5 for minimum orders of 2000 items and maximum of 50,000 a month.

Alibaba is also trying to attract foreign luxury brands by promising to eliminate fake products from its platforms Tmall and Taobao.

It is strengthening its efforts to crackdown the sale of fake products by implementing rating system and requiring vendors to deposit cash upfront.

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