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 Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other brands held by Paris-based
Kering SA filed a suit in New York in May accusing Alibaba of being
a giant conduit for counterfeiters and alleging that China's
U.S.-listed e-commerce leader had knowingly made it possible to sell
fakes.
In an article published late last week, Forbes magazine quoted Ma,
Alibaba's executive chairman, as saying there was no chance of
settling. "I would [rather] lose the case, lose the money... But we
would gain our dignity and respect," Ma was quoted as saying.
The plaintiffs were "greatly troubled" by the comment, particularly
since Alibaba had requested mediation in the first place, the lead
lawyer said in a Nov. 6 letter to a judge at the U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of New York.
"It leaves the impression... that Alibaba's request for mediation
was not made in good faith, but rather as a tactic to delay this
case and to force Plaintiffs to expend resources spinning their
wheels in an expensive and time-consuming mediation," said the
letter, seen by Reuters.
The letter said the plaintiffs "do not want to foreclose the
possibility of mediation in the future, but right now mediation
would appear to be a futile exercise".
Alibaba spokesman Bob Christie said Ma had made the comments prior
to Kering agreeing to Alibaba's proposal to mediate.
"If they want to return to the path of litigation, instead of
mediation, we will vigorously defend our legal rights and
reputation," he said in an email to Reuters.
China's biggest e-commerce company has been dogged for years by
allegations that its online shopping sites are riddled with fake or
otherwise copyright-infringing goods.
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It says it is constantly improving its monitoring and enforcement of
rules against counterfeits, but critics say it has not done nearly
enough and fakes remain rampant.
In response to the Kering request, Judge Kevin Castel urged the
parties to continue with mediation, which had yet to begin.
"Needless public comments can undermine talks. Yet public positions
and positions in confidential talks have been known to vary... The
Court strongly recommends that the parties proceed to mediation," he
wrote in an order on Monday.
(This version of the story has been refiled to correct spelling of
name Castle to Castel in penultimate paragraph)
(Reporting by John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI, and Jonathan Stempel and
Nate Raymond in NEW YORK; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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