(Photo: CGTN)

China’s Alibaba Group was offered an award at the Luxury Law Summit in London on April 2, in recognition of its innovative methods of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, China News Service reported on April 3.

Alibaba is now taking the lead in providing legal support for online IPR protection, said Frederick Mostert, President of the Luxury Law Alliance, who also serves on the advisory board of the World Intellectual Property Rights Organization.

Mostert noted that the company's IPR protection team is building a set of standards to deal with online IPR infringement by introducing internet technology and getting multiple parties engaged.

In January 2017, Alibaba and 30 leading domestic and international IPR holders founded the Alibaba Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance (AACA), the first alliance of its kind, according to the official website.

By the end of 2018, 97 percent of online IPR infringement complaints made on the platform had been handled within 24 hours, and now includes 132 brands from 16 countries.

Furthermore, the alliance assisted the police in investigating cases involving the production and distribution of counterfeit products worth a staggering 3.6 billion yuan ($5.6 billion).

The 2019 Luxury Law Summit took place from April 1 to 2 in London, capital of the UK, with more than 300 global luxury brands in attendance. Matthew Bassiur, Vice President and Head of Global Intellectual Property Enforcement at Alibaba Group, shared his experience in anti-counterfeiting over the past two decades at the summit.