Alibaba and its partners stepped up intellectual property rights protection in 2020, making strong gains against bad actors and suspected infringing listings.

In the midst of battling the global Covid-19 pandemic, Alibaba enhanced IPR protection, tapping new technology and strengthening measures in place and ties with rights-holders and consumers to notch an across-the-board improvement in platform governance numbers, according to the group’s annual report on IPR protection released Friday.

According to the annual report, Alibaba’s IPR protection measures resulted in:

  • 96% of suspected IPR infringing listings proactively detected and immediately removed before a sale could be made.
  • The number of suspected IPR infringing listings reported by consumers fell 33% year-on-year.
  • The number of rights-holder accounts on Alibaba’s Intellectual Property Protection Platform climbed 40% from a year earlier.
  • 98% of intellectual property infringement complaints were handled within 24 hours, up from 96% in 2019.

New ­and Expanded IPR-Protection Technology

During the year, Alibaba – which is dedicated to enhancing IPR protection via application of artificial intelligence and information technologies – increased its number of patents tied to its core anti-counterfeiting technology to 262 from 180.  The group worked with brands to designate over 20,000 authorized offline stores in its Amap mapping service. And Alibaba also enlisted 30,000 consumer volunteers in its anti-counterfeiting efforts across 30 provinces of China through the enablement of its Consumer Reporting System.

Apart from the numbers, Alibaba also rolled out “ZaoMang,” a powerful trademark clearance AI tool, which helps rights holders efficiently identify potential trademarks for their use, while also using advanced governance techniques to avoid potentially bad-faith applications.

Collaboration with Rights Holders and Brands on the Rise

During the year, collaboration with rights holders and brands picked up. Membership of the Alibaba Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance grew to 193 rights holders from around the world, covering over 700 brands, up from 170 rights holders and 500 brands a year earlier. AACA members hail from 19 countries and regions around the world, with 34% European, 29% from North America, 24% Chinese and 13% from elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

Even during the pandemic, AACA members jointly combated counterfeit products through civil litigations, participation at industry conferences, public statements and other actions highlighting their positions and determination to tackle IPR issues.

Source: Alibaba news