Alibaba is being sued by the company behind luxury brands including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, which alleges the Chinese ecommerce group -encourages and profits from the sale of counterfeit goods on its platform.

Kering claimed Alibaba is complicit in the sale of fake handbags, watches and other items on its marketplace sites in a manner that constitutes “racketeering”, according to a lawsuit filed in New York on Friday.

The Paris-based group is suing on behalf of Balenciaga, the French luxury brand, and Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta, both of which it owns, and alleges in the complaint that the services Alibaba provides to its marketplace customers actively encourage buyers to look for fraudulent goods. Search suggestions such as “replica” and “cucci” and “guchi” lead potential customers to fake products, the complaint alleges.