Hangzhou start-up accuses Alibaba’s Tmall of copying its skin treatment app
A Chinese app developer has accused Alibaba Group of dodging responsibility in an intellectual property theft claim made against its Tmall e-commerce platform, with the start-up vowing to file a lawsuit against the e-commerce giant.
In a statement posted on zhihu.com, the Chinese Quora-like Q&A website, Wu Liang, CEO of Hangzhou C2H4 Internet Technology, said an in-app feature on Alibaba’s Tmall platform that can scan a customers’ face, evaluate skin conditions and recommend solutions copied its own “You Look Amazing Today” app launched by his company last year.
“Alibaba, in the name of cooperation, has taken away our entire technology and fully copied our app,” Wu said, adding that Alibaba’s Ali Health medical arm approached his company in May 2017 to discuss rolling out the skin-testing feature on the Tmall and Taobao platforms.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
In discussing possible collaboration, C2H4 offered app codes and demo versions to Ali Health without signing a contract, according to Wu. Shortly after Ali Health ended cooperation talks with the Hangzhou start-up a similar feature was launched on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform in September.
