Alibaba appoints new VP to lead anti-counterfeiting efforts
As part of its anti-counterfeiting efforts, Alibaba has appointed Matthew Bassiur as its new Vice President, Head of Global Intellectual Property Enforcement. In a statement issued today, Alibaba said that Bassiur will “lead a team that works with international brands and retail partners, industry associations, government regulators, law enforcement and other organizations to advance Alibaba Group’s anti-counterfeiting and IP rights protection efforts”.
Bassiur will report to Michael Evans, the President of Alibaba Group.
“Matthew’s appointment is the latest step in Alibaba Group’s comprehensive and industry-leading efforts to fight counterfeits,” said Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group. “Counterfeiting is a problem that challenges all forms of distribution, whether in e-commerce or offline retail. 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.”
Bassiur joins Alibaba from Pfizer, where he served as the Vice President and Deputy Chief Security Officer. He oversaw Pfizer’s anti-counterfeiting operations, large-scale investigations into criminal activity, physical security and crisis management for North, Central and South America. Prior to Pfizer, he was Senior Director, Americas Region, and Counsel for IPR Enforcement at Apple.
Bassiur was previously a federal prosecutor in the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
