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The
American Apparel and Footwear Association asked the USTR to
re-instate Taobao on its "notorious markets" list of physical
and online marketplaces that reportedly engage in and facilitate
substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.
Taobao was put on the list in 2011 but removed in 2012 after it
made efforts to address the concerns of intellectual property
rights holders and committed to cut the amount of infringing
listings.
But Juanita Duggan, President and CEO of AAFA, said in a
statement late on Monday the piracy problem remained acute and
AAFA members faced "enormous difficulty" working with Taobao to
solve it.
"The sheer volume of counterfeits on the site as reported by our
members, along with the company's unwillingness to make serious
reforms is why, after three years, we feel it is necessary to
recommend that Taobao be added back to the list and that the
U.S. elevate the pressure on them to make substantive,
measurable improvements to the counterfeit problem," she said.
The AAFA's submission to the USTR that follows "complaints
regarding the slow, sluggish, and confusing systems" Taobao uses
to process requests to remove listings for counterfeit products.
Alibaba said on Tuesday it was willing to discuss outstanding
issues with the AAFA, but the group had refused to meet with it.
"To protect consumers, brand owners and legitimate sellers and
to maintain the integrity of our marketplaces, we use and will
continue to enhance a broad range of measures to prevent
counterfeit and pirated goods from being offered and sold on our
marketplaces," an Alibaba spokeswoman said in a statement.
The AAFA noted that it also called out several other
marketplaces, both online and physical, including in China,
Mexico, Uruguay, Thailand, Ukraine, Spain, Turkey, United Arab
Emirates, India, and Vietnam.
(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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