(ECNS) -- Alibaba Group on Monday announced its plan to provide unique QR codes for 10 billion products on its shopping platforms by the end of this year as part of efforts to protect intellectual property.
So far, 2.5 billion items under a pilot program have been given identity codes, with consumer goods, cosmetics, alcohol and agricultural products, as well as hundreds of brands, included.
The program takes advantage of Alibaba's big data and cloud computing technologies. By scanning QR codes, consumers can learn details about the goods they intend to buy and tell whether they are genuine or not, while businesses can detect and track counterfeits and pirated items.
Also, the QR codes help build connections between products on Alibaba's platforms and consumers, which will facilitate member marketing efforts.
Wang Xiruo, the vice president of Alibaba, said the company would further expand the scope of its program to enable traditional enterprises to understand the whole process from manufacturing to selling and give consumers a clear picture of every step in the delivery of the goods they buy.
Last week, Paris-based Kering Group, whose luxury brands include Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, filed a lawsuit against Alibaba in a New York court over counterfeits sold via its e-commerce shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall.
Alibaba has dismissed the suit as baseless and says it plans to fight the case. "We continue to work in partnership with numerous brands to help them protect their intellectual property and we have a strong track record of doing so," it said in a statement on Monday.
