Alibaba, which serves more than 100,000 brands, said it is committed to protecting intellectual property rights and has submitted a filing to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) about its ongoing efforts against infringing goods.
The Internet giant made the comment after the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) called on the USTR to relist Alibaba and its platforms such as Taobao, in the "Notorious Market" category for counterfeit merchandise in a submission sent Friday to the USTR. The USTR delisted the company in 2012.
AAFA, which represents more than 1,000 world-famous name brands, said counterfeit products remain "rampant" on Alibaba's commerce platforms and cited research by China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce as saying that 67 percent of the goods purchased on Taobao were counterfeit, according to the submission.
