Matthew Bassiur will be vice president of global intellectual property enforcement and will lead a team working with international brands and retail partners, industry associations, government regulators and law enforcement organisations to fight counterfeiting, Alibaba said.
Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba said: "Counterfeiting is a problem that challenges all forms of distribution, whether in e-commerce or offline retail. We will continue to be relentless in our long-term commitment to protect both consumers and intellectual property rights owners, and we call on all companies in our industry to join our fight against bad actors."
Bassiur joins from Pfizer where he oversaw counterfeiting operations, Alibaba said. He previously worked for Apple as senior director for IPR enforcement, and as a federal prosecutor in the computer crime and intellectual property section of the US Department of Justice.
Alibaba "employs a broad range of strong measures to maintain the integrity of its marketplaces, including consumer protection funds and strict policies against illegitimate listings and poor quality merchants, ensuring that consumers continue to have a peace of mind when they shop on Alibaba's platforms," it said.
Paris-based Kering, which owns luxury goods brands including Gucci, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, filed a lawsuit in May seeking damages and an injunction for alleged violations of trademark and racketeering laws from Alibaba.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleged that Alibaba had conspired to manufacture, offer for sale and traffic in counterfeit products bearing Kering trademarks without Kering's permission.
