Danish pump maker Grundfos has joined the Alibaba Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance (AACA), a global coalition of companies collaborating to prevent infringements of intellectual property (IP) rights.
The alliance, which was formed in 2017 by Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, brings together rights holders and other intellectual property stakeholders to share industry and technical expertise to protect intellectual property rights on e-commerce platforms as well as offline.
AACA now has more than 170 members representing over 500 brands from around the world. Members are divided into 14 industry working groups. Grundfos is part of the industrial goods group which is currently focused on furthering online IP protection through proactive monitoring of problematic listings, offline cooperation and raids, as well as raising public awareness around IP protection and the value of genuine goods.
“Joining Alibaba’s Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance marks yet another significant step in our work to protect our intellectual property rights,” said Astrid Nørgaard Friis, general counsel at Grundfos. “We are proud to be part of this alliance amongst so many great companies. This gives us the opportunity to continue to offer our water technology to consumers, whilst at the same time stopping infringements more efficiently and offering our expertise and knowledge to further advance the work of the alliance,”
“Through AACA we have established an environment of multi-party cooperation which strengthens IP protection for the benefit of rights holders, e-commerce platforms and consumers alike. Alibaba is delighted Grundfos has become an AACA member, joining us in our collective endeavour to further IP rights,” said Michael Yao, head of brand cooperation at Alibaba Group.
