Louis Vuitton Files Suit in Connection with Counterfeit Goods on Alibaba

Fake Louis Vuitton Speedy bag

LOUIS VUITTON have fallen out once again with China's leading online e-tailer TAOBAO MARKETPLACE less than three years after the two signed a collaboration agreement Delorate Agency reported 14/10/2013.

The agreement Alibaba Group, China’s massive e-commerce firm, had announced with their partnership with French high fashion label Louis Vuitton that aimed to stop the sale of counterfeit luxury goods in China. And let's not forget the Taobao Teams Up With Apple, Gucci To Remove Counterfeit Products Delortae Agency reported 20/3/2011 

The Alibaba-owned Taobao marketplace, China’s largest consumer-to-consumer online shopping outlet, is often flooded with knock-off designer goods in a country that largely turns a blind eye to their distribution. Alibaba, as a whole, handles more web transactions annually than both Amazon and eBay combined.

Louis Vuitton has filed suit in Beijing in connection with the sale of counterfeit goods on TaoBao, Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplace. According to Louis Vuitton’s complaint, which was filed in Beijing’s Haidian District Court, three individual sellers on the TaoBao platform were formerly convicted of operating a “serious” counterfeit counterfeit involving the sale of Louis Vuitton goods between 2011 and 2014. As a result, Louis Vuitton is owed 250,000 yuan, or $37,900 at current exchange, in economic damages.

Delortae Agency also reported in 2013, copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits against a number of counterfeit websites. Louis Vuitton set their sights on iOffer and their individual users (iOffer is a San Francisco based online trading community website that consists almost entirely of China based sellers) Websites also did not avoid their "net" as www.cheaplouisvuitton.com, a major infringement website blatantly flouting the major brands trademark with fakes, were also sued by the design house.

Like Chanel, before them, targeting individual sellers Louis Vuitton is targeting individual iOffer sellers also, for selling counterfeit items rather than to direct the suits to iOffer itself. No longer limiting themselves to the suits against domains alone and taking the fight straight to individual iOffer member merchants. Gucci also have sued individual iOffers members in similar suits against 102 individual sellers.

This maybe a trend that we will be seeing more of. Since the law seems to be telling the brands in recent rulings is that it is the brand responsibility to to protect it's property as shown in eBay Defeats Tiffany in Counterfeit Jewellery Suit, which Delortae Agency reported 20/10/2013.

Tracking the vast majority of the individual sellers will be difficult to locate and identify as they grow more sophisticated in covering their tracks to protect their proceeds from counterfeit sales. This does mean however, their individual shops within Marketplace websites such as eBay, Taobao, iOffer or Amazon, will be shut down immediately supported by a court order. 

Any funds Department of Justice, in association with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre, who can prove and trace the funds that individual sellers have amassed from the sale of counterfeits, they can be turned over to the respected brand houses who filed the suit. 

This sent a very strong message to the brands but this current case could be sending a stronger one to the individual sellers.

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» Taobao Teams Up With Apple, Gucci To Remove Counterfeit Products
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Taobao Marketplace Teams up with Louis Vuitton to Combat Counterfeits

TAOBAO MARKETPLACE has taken another step against counterfeit luxury goods by inking an agreement with Louis Vuitton to proactively remove intellectual property rights (IPR) infringing listings on it platform.

This is not the first time China's leading online e-tailer has collaborated with a luxury retailer as March last year they announced a similar deal, Taobao Teams Up With Apple, Gucci To Remove Counterfeit Products.

Alibaba Group, China’s massive e-commerce firm, has announced a partnership with French high fashion label Louis Vuitton that aims to stop the sale of counterfeit luxury goods in China. The Alibaba-owned Taobao marketplace, China’s largest consumer-to-consumer online shopping outlet, is often flooded with knock-off designer goods in a country that largely turns a blind eye to their distribution. Alibaba, as a whole, handles more web transactions annually than both Amazon and eBay combined.

Louis Vuitton, owned by LVHM Moët Hennessy, is world-famous for its distinctive brown monogram leather merchandise. Due to both their popularity among celebrities and high price tags, the brand’s accessories are a prime target for counterfeiters. The brand have recently launched their upmarket line in order to distinguish themselves and reach a more elitist market.

Earlier this year, Chinese authorities in Guiyang broke up a high-profile counterfeit goods operation that was based in a high-end hotel. Police confiscated more than 6,000 fake items worth more than 81 million yuan ($13 million).

“The store owner admitted his bags cost around 100 to 200 yuan (US$16-$32) but that he sold them for over 1,000 yuan (US$160). The bags were of high quality and most of the buyers could not tell the difference from genuine items,” reported Want China Time. “Most of the goods were counterfeits of luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Gucci.”

Under the agreement with Louis Vuitton, Taobao Marketplace will proactively take down product listings of suspected counterfeit goods and implement preventive measures to stop sellers from listing fake items. These measures strengthen the current system in place whereby brand owners notify Taobao of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringing items and then Taobao acts to remove them from the giant online shopping website.

Alibaba Group online shopping site

The agreement is part of ongoing efforts by Taobao Marketplace to work with brand owners to curtail fakes.  In August, Alibaba Group signed an agreement with world’s largest anti-counterfeiting group, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) to work together against pirated goods. The agreement called on IACC members, which include Apple and The Walt Disney Company, to assist Taobao in identifying copyright-infringing products listed on the site. Taobao Marketplace reached a similar agreement last September with the U.S.-based Motion Picture Association (MPA). The website is also working with Chinese government agencies and law enforcement to identify and shut down factories and other sources of counterfeit goods.

The agreement between Louis Vuitton and Taobao Marketplace will go toward building a fairer and more transparent online business environment, the companies said in a joint statement on Friday.

“Such collaboration is invaluable to us, in order to prevent the manufacture, transport and sales of counterfeit goods, online as well as off-line,” said Valérie Sonnier, Global Intellectual Property Director for Louis Vuitton.

Last August, Alibaba signed an agreement with the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), proving that the e-commerce giant was serious about running a legitimate business.

In 2012, about $1.5 billion worth of counterfeit goods were stopped by European Union customs officials, according to an EU report. Fake watches, bags and clothing made up 46 percent of the value of the intercepted merchandise. China remains the top source for counterfeit items to the EU, said the report published in August.

Although China has taken steps to toughen its anti-piracy initiatives and laws in the face of mounting international criticism, experts say the enforcement of those laws have been mixed and the fluid nature of China’s labour economy means that when one factory closes another opens somewhere else.

Taobao Marketplace, which was removed from the United States Trade Representative list of “notorious markets” for piracy last year, was once a magnet for these counterfeit sellers eager to reach a bigger audience. Taobao’s efforts to clean up its platform has made it harder for counterfeiters to successfully list and sell items, say company officials.

"Taobao Marketplace is dedicated to the protection of intellectual property rights and the fight against counterfeiting, said Ni Liang, Senior Director of Internet Security, Alibaba Group. “We firmly believe that the collaboration between brands, platforms and government agencies will create visible and significant results in the intellectual property enforcement space.

“If Alibaba wants to remain the top dog in China's e-commerce, maintaining credibility with consumers is crucial,” said Duncan Clark, an investment advisory firm chairman who specialises in the Internet and e-commerce, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Alibaba Group Vice President Brian Li added, “The Internet is not a place that generates piracy problems, but it’s a place that exposes them.”


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RELATED ARTICLES
» Help Us Fight Fakes, Alibaba's Impassioned Plea to Global Brands
» Luxury Group Kering sues Alibaba for helping Counterfeiters
» Bank of China Complies With Subpoena In Gucci Counterfeit Case
» Taobao Teams Up With Apple, Gucci To Remove Counterfeit Products
» Louis Vuitton Files Suit in Connection with Counterfeit Goods on Alibaba

Louis Vuitton steps up accessories revamp with new designer

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Darren Spaziani

LOUIS VUITTON has hired Proenza Schouler accessories designer Darren Spaziani as part of the luxury brand's efforts to reposition itself as more exclusive and upmarket reports Reuters, 25 September 2013.

Louis Vuitton, the world's biggest luxury brand and part of French group LVMH, has been trying to become more elitist after suffering a dip in demand for the 600-700 euros ($810-$940) logo-embossed canvas bags on which it built its profitability.

Earlier this month, a survey of store managers showed its new and pricer bags, such as the 3,500-euro Capucines, were flying off the shelves at European fashion capitals, signalling that the strategy was starting to bear fruit.

Louis Vuitton Capucines bag

Louis Vuitton said Spaziani would create new collections made with "leather of the highest quality".

Delphine Arnault, daughter of LVMH Chief Executive Bernard Arnault and recently appointed No.2 at Louis Vuitton, on Tuesday described Spaziani as "one of the most talented designers of his generation".

"He knows the maison well and will bring modern vision and professionalism to Louis Vuitton's creations," Arnault added in a statement.

Spaziani, 38, who graduated from the elite fashion school London's Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion, worked for Louis Vuitton from 2004 to 2006.

As well as Proenza Schouler, he has previously worked as accessories design director at Balenciaga, part of Kering, in Paris and did consulting work for Diane von Furstenberg and Tory Burch in New York.

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Louis Vuitton Sues San Antonio Flea Market

Louis Vuitton HQ

Opening arguments began this week in a lawsuit filed by luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton against San Antonio’s Eisenhauer flea market. The French company says the flea market allowed vendors to sell counterfeit products and is seeking $18 million.

Louis Vuitton’s lawyer said in opening arguments that the company sent representatives to the Eisenhauer Market and found as many as 15 vendors selling fake Louis Vuitton products, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

A lawyer for the market said its on-site manager was not trained to recognized counterfeit items.

A statement issued by Louis Vuitton last year and posted on San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI’s website says the company has been fighting counterfeiting around the world for years.

The Eisenhauer flea market in San Antonio

Photo by Jon Mallard http://www.flickr.com/photos/mallard10/

“Thanks to this fully-dedicated team of lawyers and former law enforcement professionals based in Paris with regional offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Milan, Dubai, New York and Buenos Aires, thousands of anti-counterfeiting raids are performed each year,” the company says in the statement.

The lawsuit was originally filed in February 2011. A commenter on the blog Strange in San Antonio said he had purchased a fake bag from the market, and the quality was questionable.

“The stitching started to let go after a few months and it ended up looking pretty ratty after a year,” Keith Allen K posted.

Louis Vuitton is also embroiled in a legal dispute with Warner Brothers over the appearance of fake handbags in the movie Hangover Part II, see Delortae Agency's according MiMi's Blog.

And just last week in Orlando, police arrested a couple and accused them of selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags at a flea market, along with other fake designer brands, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 

via KutNew & http://www.luxuyonlinestore.net

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Fendi Waging the War Against Counterfeiters with sophisticated Holograms

In our role of independent luxury designer authentication and appraisal specialist, we view some of worlds most sophisticated counterfeit items ever made. These items, most everyday consumers never get exposed to, but due to the counterfeit market opening up and the ease of obtaining such materials and new countries entering into this lucrative arena.

We are aware that these items are filtering through to the general domain. It is no secret that Delortae Agency is committed to brand protection, designers copyright and trademark infringement. Our Authentication Service is recommended by Major Brand Houses, PayPal, law enforcement, Trading Standards, Office of Fair Trading, small claim courts, respected auction houses, insurance and credit card companies.

Over the last five years we have seen a growing number of more sophisticated counterfeits being presented. A worrying trend that has not been overlooked by the major brand designers who are victims of this new wave of sophisticated counterfeiters.

We are all too familiar in the industry, what lengths major brand houses will go to in order to protect their product and the consumer against counterfeiters. We have seen straight stitching, angled stitching, alligator skins not to mention gold zippers to help us set apart the authentic from the counterfeit, now the house of Fendi are introducing holograms.

Nothing new about that. Holograms have been used for years to in the war to combat counterfeit activity to identify authenticity of many luxury goods much of the appeal due to holograms being hard, not to mention expensive, to copy. Holograms are known to use machinery that uses create patterns using laser various different laser beams. These holograms invariably incorporate images, numbers and bar codes that are visible under forensic equipment.

The Italian fashion house Fendi, a unit of LVMH Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey, the worlds largest luxury goods group, have been for some time stitching holograms into the lining of their bags, suits, scarves, boots not to mention mink coats. No one has used holograms quite like Fendi are doing.

The coloured, rectangular stamps with encrypted codes, are visible only with a special magnifying device. The devices are being made available to the Police and Custom Officials to help identify a Fendi branded authentic item from a counterfeit. The holograms also have a wireless tracking device embedded into them which allow Fendi to track if a product has gone a stray from the strictly controlled distribution network or sold in an unauthorized store as the tags are deactivated once an item has been sold.

Michael Burke, Chief Executive of Fendi says "The best way to fight is to stay ahead" also added "We want the certainty of quickly determine whether an item is fake" their familiar two mirroring 'F's in brown and black, is one of the most copied labels in the world.

French fashion house Louis Vuitton have also acknowledged copies of their handbags are so good that their customers only realise their purchase is counterfeit when taken to a boutique for repair. We also only repair authentic luxury items in our own Luxury Handbag SPA and have seen an increase in our own returns of restoration items that have been presented to our Technicians Studio.

Fendi is not the only luxury goods company using holograms. Gucci Group, owners of Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent, confirms it also uses similar technology to protect its brands.

It costs approximately 15,000 Euro to create a holograms encrypted image with an additional few euros tagged on to the actual product. For major brands that represents one Euro out of a thousand but for counterfeiters it is one Euro out of ten says Marc-Antoine Jamet, General Secretary of LVMH and serving Head of France's Union des Fabricants, known for lobbying anti counterfeit measures.

No longer can luxury goods company rely on their exemplary craftmanship, quality skins and ahead-of-their-times designs to ensure authenticity. The luxury goods industry is notoriously reserved when it comes to talking about their anti theft protection. An industry, that up until recently, have only admitted publicly they even have a counterfeit problem.

Police in Naples have already reportedly uncovered a warehouse with photocopiers used to create fake holograms with the basic design without the deep colours and multidimensional images, for counterfeit handbags. A Fendi spokesperson said they have already seen a counterfeit Fendi complete with hologram.

So even luxury goods executives admit holograms are not fool proof. "Holograms are better than nothing but they are already being copied," says Claudio di Sabato Head of Security at Italian fashion house Prada Group NV.

Luxury goods experts say the holograms should allow consumers who buy for secondary retailers or pre owned used goods stores to know whether the product is authentic. But what if the consumer does not know how the authentic hologram or product should look, it would appear holograms offers no protection whatsoever.

Having said that Fendi hope the added complexity of it's holograms and the fact the Police and Custom Officials can root out fakes more efficiently will provide an extra deterrent against counterfeiting. The technology is considered so valuable at Fendi that only two people at its fashion house know the code behind the encrypted holograms.

Exclusive! Counterfeit Website reveal exactly how they make the perfect fake! Word-for-word, how the perfect fake is actually made! HERE

Is this the way forward?

Buying a Replica Handbag in NYC Could Soon be Illegal

Bill would bag phony-purse buyers

Pretty soon, it could be more than just the fashion police who have a problem with your shoddy knockoff bag, like this bogus Louis Vuitton.

Buyers could face a year in jail or a £606 fine under a proposed bill by a city councilwoman fed up with cheapskate tourists and Big Apple residents flooding her district in search of fake designer merchandise.

"We don't want to be known as the place to come to get counterfeit goods," said Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose Chinatown district is ground zero for counterfeiters.

Under Chin's bill, which is being introduced Thursday, shoppers caught buying any counterfeit product could be jailed or slapped with a fine of £606 -- a little less than the price of Marc Jacobs' frequently copied Baroque Quilting Mini Stam bag, which retails for £758.

"It's a very big problem," Chin said of the counterfeit market. "People are still coming, and the industry is growing, and we have to stop the demand. We need people to know that they are feeding this demand."

Several of Chin's colleagues have expressed support for the bill, and she already has five co-sponsors.
The punishment might seem draconian, but it's necessary to curb the growing problem, she said.
She pointed out that the money that counterfeiters rake in often funds other nefarious activities, such as terrorism and unsafe child-labor practices.

But try telling that to bargain hunters. Christine Gambino, 21, of Staten Island -- who was in Chinatown yesterday sporting a fake Louis Vuitton handbag that cost her £24 -- vowed to continue to hit the neighborhood for counterfeit goodies.

"I'll take a risk and sacrifice to look good and pay less," she said.
Erma Charles of Brooklyn said she knows it's wrong, but she can't resist.

"Everyone steals," the teacher said as she walked in Chinatown. If the law passes, Chin said, she'll work to blanket problem areas like Chinatown with signs warning people about the new rules.

The law specifically states that buyers should know their goods are counterfeit because of the low price and location where they are buying them.

But don't worry if you're strolling down the street swinging your fake Vuitton and the police pass by. You have to be caught actually buying the goods to be charged, according to the proposal.
Surprisingly, legit merchants -- who could lose street traffic if the ubiquitous black-market vendors were to leave -- applauded the proposal.

Sandy Lui, manager of Optical 88 on Hester Street, acknowledged that she might lose customers, since many people come to Chinatown specifically to buy knockoffs, but she said she supports a crackdown on principle.

"It's wrong to sell [fake goods]. I don't like people coming in here assuming we also sell fake stuff," she said.Cops -- who have struggled to stop the growing problem -- said the law would be difficult to enforce. "It's never going to fly," one officer said.

Buyer beware: A proposed bill could land knockoff shoppers with a fine -- or even jail

www.nypost.com

1G fine for fake? Get real!
Bag buyers blast pol's knockoff bill
New York women strongly disagree about whether anyone should buy fake designer handbags or only pay full price for the real deal -- but they overwhelmingly blasted a proposed new law that would slap fines of up to a whopping £600 on people who buy counterfeits.

"I don't think it's a big deal to sell knockoff bags," sniffed Morgan Mikulaschek, 19, a student who lives on the Upper West Side, as she toted around a fake Fendi that she bought for £24.

"If they were selling real bags illegally, that's one thing, but they're fake -- so who cares?" Mikulaschek said   The real white leather pleated bag retails for £877

Morgan Mikulaschek, 19, paid £24 for her knockoff Fendi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I don't think the designers are hurt from it. Their regular customers aren't going to go down to Canal Street to look for fakes."

Jocelyn Rustemeyer, 23, said she prefers the real, £480 Louis Vuitton she was lugging around, but also copped to owning a counterfeit Coach for which she paid £12 several years ago.

"I think the fine is ridiculous," said Rustemeyer, a Greenwich Village real-estate agent. "People buying fakes obviously can't afford a £600 fine."

Even ladies who would never be caught dead with a knockoff pooh-poohed Councilwoman Margaret Chin's proposal to issue fines of up to £600 -- and a jail term of up to a year -- for counterfeit-buying customers, many of whom cram her Chinatown district daily.

Graduate student Danielle Bass, 28, of the Upper West Side, defended her £841 purchase of an authentic Tod's bag even as she blasted the proposed fine.

"It's upsetting to buy purses and see fake versions of them. If I'm going to wear designers, I'm not going to be cheap about it. When I buy bags, I make sure there aren't fake versions of them. This bag was worth the price," Bass said.

"But I think the fine is too harsh. You can't fine someone for liking a bag and not wanting to spend a lot of money for it."

Fordham Law Professor Susan Scafidi said that if Chin's bill passes, it would put the Big Apple on par with France and Italy, where buyers of counterfeits can be fined up to £901.

"I absolutely think it could affect the business," said Scafidi, who heads Fordham's Fashion Law Institute. "There are some consumers who will think twice."

Scafidi scoffed at the idea that the law would significantly harm New York's tourism industry.
"People have not stopped going to Paris," she noted.
www.nypost.com

Looks like some are not deterred, what's your thoughts?