Interest known since IPO
Alibaba.com’s trademark was registered in the Netherlands on 27 September 1999, according to Emerce. It was the first European trademark for the company whose original goal is to bring companies from across the world into contact with Chinese parties.
Alibaba Trade Manager, its second European trademark, only arrived in 2005. Alibaba.com: Global trade starts (2007) and Alibaba Cloud Computing (2009) were the next trademarks, but the company has only revealed its European interest at its IPO. Up until now, its intentions had remained relatively unknown.
Expectations are that Alibaba will purchase several European web shops, to quickly gain a foothold in Europe. It had done similarly in the United States, buying shares in ShopRunner and TangoMe.
