Luxury goods makers plan legal action against mainland sites for selling fakes
Leading luxury brands are poised to take legal action against Chinese web portals for allowing fake products to be sold online, according to a partner at international law firm Baker & McKenzie.
The law firm, which represents more than 20 brands in Hong Kong and China fighting the problem of online fakes, could launch legal actions in major cities across the country.
'The brands are extremely alarmed. For instance, a major French luxury brand told us that it launched an action against a US website, but the quantity of fake goods on that website is much less than one of the bigger Chinese websites,' Tan Loke Khoon, a partner at Baker & McKenzie, said.
'Many brands identify online fakes as one of their biggest challenges now. For the last three to four years, I have noticed an increasing amount of fake luxury goods sold online.'
A source said brands hurt by online sales of fake luxury goods included L'Oreal and Louis Vuitton.