Taobao lawsuit over fake cat food chosen as 'key web event' of 2017

A legal battle over fake goods sold on Taobao, one of China's largest online marketplaces, has been named as one of 10 significant internet-related events in 2017.

The dispute between Alibaba's e-commerce platform and a cat food vendor was hotly discussed on Wednesday by experts at a law seminar organized by Legal Daily and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In March last year, Taobao filed a lawsuit in Shanghai against a vendor, surnamed Yao, claiming he had broken its regulations prohibiting the sale of fake goods and damaged the company's reputation.

Fengxian District People's Court ruled in favor of the e-commerce giant in July and ordered the defendant to pay 120,000 yuan ($18,910) in compensation.

The case "showed the web company's determination and efforts to combat online counterfeits", Liu Junhai, a law professor at Renmin University of China, told China Daily. "The dispute is also a good example to encourage us to abide by contracts."

Gao Yandong, director of Zhejiang University's Internet Law Research Center, agreed. He said the fight against fakes should involve not only judicial departments, but also government departments, social institutes and commercial platforms.

Other significant events in the top 10, as decided at the seminar, include the amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and a judicial interpretation on how to handle criminal cases involving online privacy.