Alibaba boss defends firm, expresses regret over suit

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma defended Tuesday the company's stance against counterfeit goods and expressed regret that luxury goods makerKeringfiled a lawsuit against the firm.

Paris-based Kering, which owns brands includingGucciand Yves Saint Laurent, on Friday filed a lawsuit against Alibaba accusing it of aiding the sales of counterfeit versions of its products.

Kering dropped a similar complaint in August 2014 after the two companies agreed to work together to fight fake goods.

Speaking at a news conference in Seoul, Ma said his company cooperates with brand owners to fight counterfeiting and has a large staff dedicated to the matter.

"We express regret about the company's choice to sue us and not to cooperate with us to fight against counterfeit goods," Ma said. The suit, filed in New York, was "creating internal conflict" rather than cooperation to fight a "common enemy," he added.

The suit accuses Alibaba, China's biggest online marketplace, of permitting merchants to sell goods on its platforms, even if they openly say they sell unlicensed copies. It also accuses the company of mail fraud and racketeering, including processing payments for goods it knew were counterfeit.

In an email sent to Bloomberg on Monday, Alibaba disputed the allegations.

"This lawsuit is part of Kering's ongoing global effort to maintain its customers' trust in its genuine products and to continue to develop the creative works and talents in its brands," Kering said in a statement.

Alibaba, the world's biggest e-commerce company by sales volume, has launched a series of initiatives to keep counterfeit goods off its platforms following complaints by trademark owners.

The company says it has 2,000 employees dedicated to anti-counterfeiting and consumer protection work and spent $160 million on that in 2013-14.

Ma said the China-based firm, which operates its own online payment system called Alipay, is also in discussions with Apple Inc. about cooperating in payment systems and possibly other areas. Apple CEO Tim Cook last week told China's Xinhua News Agency about plans to possibly bring its wireless payment system Apple Pay to China.

Contributing: Mike Snider, Associated Press