di: Claudio Bergonzi, Director Global IP enforcement | Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group

Alibaba and SMEs have a long history together. Alibaba started as an SME, in a flat in Hangzhou where Jack Ma and 17 other visionaries founded the company that today employs over 200,000 people. However, for a multinational operating in almost 200 countries, the spirit of the SME is always alive, and never secondary in creating an ecosystem that allows companies of all sizes to be successful in their expansion.

The conference that took place in Rome on 22 January, organised in collaboration with INDICAM, Netcomm, INSME and the partnership of “Il Tempo” and Adiacent, precisely aimed to focus on SMEs, both on the business side and as IP rights protection.

On the business side, the role is best exemplified by the numbers analysed in a report published in 2023 and produced by SDA Bocconi and commissioned by Alibaba. More than 5.4 billion Italian exports to China passed through the Group’s platforms in 2022, accounting for about a third of the total of what Italy sold in China. Figures that are constantly growing, if we consider that 2022 marks a +140% compared to 2019.

How IP plays a central role in the development of companies and their success was also a key passage in the speech by the Vice-President of the Italian Senate, Sen. Licia Ronzulli. Themes that were also taken up by Undersecretary at MIMIT (Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy) Fausta Bergamotto, a Ministry that plays a central role in supporting businesses in registering and protecting IP. As Alibaba’s Vice-President, Head of Global IP enforcement, Matthew Bassiur, pointed out in his introductory speech, the company has implemented a four-pillar approach to support robust and effective IP protection. The first is the IP protection platform, the portal that allows owners to register the IP titles they wish to protect and make notifications of what they consider to be violations of their IP rights. The portal (which is not the only reporting system, as there is also an online form or email), allows for a faster process (96% of notifications are handled in less than 24 hours on the Group’s largest platforms) and allows technology (AI and its declinations) to work at its best. Importantly, even in this area, the “memory” of SMEs is not lacking at Alibaba. Simp’Ali, created to simplify SME reporting as much as possible, is a concrete sign to help structures that do not have organisational resources to devote to more complex systems. And even better can the IACC’s Marketsafe programme, where Alibaba finances 100% of the fee for the first year. SMEs with MarketSafe can do hyper-simplified reporting, assisted by a dedicated analyst.

Second pillar, it is the proactive measures that can block offers potentially infringing IP rights. The analysis of multiple elements today leads to proactively eliminating many more offers than are reported by rights holders, and to preventing even one sale to consumers in more than 95 per cent of cases.

The aim of the third pillar is to work with all stakeholders to ensure that bad actors are put out of business. This involves supporting actions that, as in 2022, lead to more than 2000 investigations in China conducted by the PSB, with more than 2000 people arrested, as well as the seizure of production facilities. In the rest of the World, Alibaba collaborates with Police Forces on a daily basis, as in Italy with the Guardia di Finanza, or in the USA with Homeland Security, just to mention two examples among many. Of course, to make all this effective, the fourth pillar is essential: collaboration with stakeholders.  And here we return to the starting point, namely the conference organised in Rome on 22 January. To have done so with INDICAM, a historical partner that is particularly close to my heart as you can imagine, is a sign of how collaboration is a path that goes back a long way. As President Mario Peserico emphasised in the fireside chat with Andrea Di Carlo (Deputy Executive Director of EUIPO), the role of associations is important in order to put up a united front and raise the tone against looming threats, as in the case of potential deviations in the application of AI, or for everything that is conveyed through social networks with hidden links, which are the stone guests when it comes to discussing possible measures to limit the devastating effects of this to the detriment of consumers and also of platforms.

With EUIPO, whose Deputy Director Di Carlo reiterated the pivotal role of the Office as a driver of innovation and business support, we have a continuous exchange of ideas, and the aim is to contribute to the strengthening of knowledge to protect IP protection.

What we have been doing for years with companies. Two of them, INDICAM members such as EssilorLuxottica and Bulgari, were speakers in the round table with IP protection focus. The business cases are interesting, to understand from “real life” how internal and external paths can lead to more efficient protection systems, which also lead to online-to-offline success. With hundreds of other companies, we work every day to increase knowledge and effectiveness.

Supporting IP protection is an ongoing task. We do this with the Institutions, with MIMIT’s Directorate General for Industrial Property, which saw the presence of Simona Marzetti at the conference, participating in regular meetings, in the Anti-Counterfeiting Weeks, and also bringing to this area a set of information and knowledge that goes in the direction everyone wants: enabling companies to succeed. By being able to sell their products better thanks to online, by guaranteeing consumers an environment of integrity, and by giving honest sellers the opportunity to reach previously unreachable customers.

Author: INDICAM