Last week, the Auto Care Association submitted comments urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to relist Alibaba and its family of e-commerce platforms including Taobao and Aliexpress as notorious markets that facilitate the sale of counterfeit auto parts. The letter was submitted as part of the USTR’s request for comments in identifying Internet and physical markets based outside the United States that engage in copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting for its annual Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets Report.
“Although Alibaba had been removed from the Notorious Markets list in recognition of efforts to address counterfeit