SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Luxury brands suing Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd have asked a U.S. judge to be relieved of the obligation to mediate, which they say looks futile after Alibaba founder Jack Ma was quoted in a magazine as saying he would rather lose the case than settle. Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other brands held by Paris-based Kering SA filed a suit in New York in May accusing Alibaba of being a giant conduit for counterfeiters and alleging that China’s U.S.-listed e-commerce leader had knowingly made it possible to sell fakes.