Alibaba Group’s Taobao online marketplace has sued a pet-food seller for RMB 2.67 million in damages and legal fees, alleging the vendor sold counterfeit kitten chow through its virtual Taobao store in violation of the e-commerce platform’s rules.
In acivil lawsuitfiled March 3 with the Shanghai Fengxian District People’s Court, Taobao claims the defendant, surnamed Yao, brokeseveral of the trading platform’s regulationsprohibiting the sale oftrademark-infringing merchandise. Taobao asked the court to compel the defendant to compensate it for its total direct and indirect economic losses, loss of goodwill and legal fees. Taobao is also asking the court to compel the defendant to publish a written apology in several prominent print and Web publications for a week.
The suit is the second civil action lodged by Alibaba this year in its efforts to curb the sale of counterfeit products on its platforms. In early January, Alibabasued two vendorsfor selling alleged knock-offs of Swarovski watches, seeking RMB 1.4 million ($201,320) for “violation of contract and goodwill.”