Dive Brief:
- Matthew Bassiur, who has helped brands such as Apple fight copyright infringement and counterfeits, has joined Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.
- Bassiur has substantial experience protecting intellectual property from posts with the Department of Justice, Apple Inc., and Pfizer.
- Alibaba appeared on the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative’s “Notorious Markets” list as recently as 2012.
Dive Insight:
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has tapped Matthew Bassiur to keep operations on the up-and-up. Formerly a computer crimes prosecutor with the Department of Justice, Bassiur will help the international marketplace head off the sale of counterfeit goods and protect partner brands’ intellectual property.
Bassiur has helped Apple Inc. head off the sale of counterfeit iPhones and investigate copyright infringements in the past. He also is familiar with IP issues in Alibaba’s home market, having taught intellectual property law in China. He will start his job as head of Global Intellectual Property Enforcement next month.
Looking to grow global revenues, Alibaba needs someone to head a robust IP effort fast. Alibaba continues to fight a reputation for abetting the sale of fake goods, and has recently faced criticism from the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative and Chinese authorities for its lack of transparency and failure to address issues in a timely manner.
“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,” said Jack Ma, co-founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, in a statement.
