E-COMMERCE giant Alibaba yesterday denounced as baseless a lawsuit by French apparel company Kering Group, whose luxury brands include Gucci, which accused the Chinese firm of selling fake products.

    Kering filed suit against U.S.-listed Alibaba in a New York court last week for selling counterfeits of its products worldwide, domestic media reported.

    Kering’s portfolio of luxury and lifestyle brands include Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Puma, according to its website.

    Alibaba said it planned to fight the case. “Unfortunately, Kering Group has chosen the path of wasteful litigation instead of the path of constructive cooperation,” an Alibaba spokeswoman said in a statement.

    “We believe this complaint has no basis and we will fight it vigorously,” the statement said.

    Alibaba’s Taobao platform is estimated to hold more than 90 percent of the consumer-to-consumer market in China, while its Tmall.com is believed to command more than half the Chinese market for business-to-consumer transactions.

    Domestic media said that Kering filed an earlier lawsuit against Alibaba in July last year but dropped it after the two companies agreed to work together to reduce counterfeiting.

    “We continue to work in partnership with numerous brands to help them protect their intellectual property and we have a strong track record of doing so,” Alibaba said in its statement yesterday.

    Alibaba shot into prominence after an initial public offering in the United States that raised US$25 billion last year. The company, however, has warned investors that it could face lawsuits over the counterfeiting problem.

    Kering’s lawsuit is demanding that the U.S. court order Alibaba to pay damages and stop the sale of counterfeit products related to the brands. (SD-Agencies)