Trademark Counterfeiting in the Digital Era

This thesis explores how trademark counterfeiting has become structurally embedded in global e-commerce, using Alibaba as a central case and focusing in particular on the legal and strategic confrontation between luxury brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and large online platforms. Rather than treating counterfeiting as a marginal or purely illegal activity, the thesis approaches it as an outcome of platform-based business models, globalized supply chains, and uneven enforcement between jurisdictions. The study is structured in three main parts. The first section lays the conceptual and legal foundations, examining trademark protection, counterfeiting dynamics, and the specific challenges posed by online marketplaces, with particular attention to China and Hong Kong as key commercial hubs. The second section analyses the operational mechanisms of e-commerce counterfeiting, including platform incentives, seller behavior, and the limits of traditional enforcement tools. The final section develops an in-depth case study of Gucci and YSL versus Alibaba, combining legal analysis, policy documents, and strategic considerations to assess how responsibility for counterfeiting is allocated—and often contested—between brands, platforms, and regulators. Overall, the thesis argues that the standard narrative framing counterfeiting as a zero-sum loss for brand owners is increasingly insufficient. Instead, it shows how counterfeiting occupies a grey zone shaped by economic incentives, cultural perceptions of luxury, and regulatory asymmetries, raising broader questions about platform accountability and the future of trademark enforcement in digital markets.