The global counterfeit industry represents over $1 trillion dollars annually.  There are many contributors, pitfalls, and points for check-and-balance all along the supply chain, from the creation of the counterfeit item to its point of sale to a customer.  Amazon has developed a host of anti-counterfeiting tools, to identify counterfeit items currently being sold on amazon.com and remove them, and to prevent counterfeit goods from being listed for sale in the first place.

Amazon announced Amazon Project Zero at the end of February 2019, on their dayone blog.  Described as a three-fold approach to combatting counterfeit products on their stores, covering items already listed for sale and ones coming through the supply chain.

1 – Automated protections:  Brands provide Amazon with their logos, trademarks, and other identifying data, so that Amazon’s machines can constantly scan their stores and initiate the removal of suspected counterfeits. 

2 – Self-service counterfeit removal tool:  Brands have been given the ability to remove counterfeit listings by themselves, instead of reporting the counterfeit item to Amazon and then waiting for Amazon to resolve it.  The self-service tool gives brands the control to monitor for counterfeits and to take action. 

3 – Product serialization:  Brands place a unique code on every item during manufacturing.  Amazon scans and verifies each product’s authenticity, and is able to stop a purchased counterfeit product unit from reaching the customer. 

All brands, including luxury brands, face revenue loss and tarnishing of the brand when dealing with all aspects of counterfeits of their products. To help combat, and circumvent that, Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting tools provide brands with an automated, proactive system for identifying and removing counterfeit products before they reach a potential customer.

See our post Importance of Intellectual Property Rights: Increasing Market Share Through Stopping Knockoffs and Infringements for a comprehensive discussion of implementing effective IP-enforcement programs. You can access additional information on our Brand Protection Strategies and Resources page.

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About the Firm:

Klemchuk LLP is a litigation, intellectual property, transactional, and international business law firm dedicated to protecting innovation. The firm provides tailored legal solutions to industries including software, technology, retail, real estate, consumer goods, ecommerce, telecommunications, restaurant, energy, media, and professional services. The firm focuses on serving mid-market companies seeking long-term, value-added relationships with a law firm. Learn more about experiencing law practiced differently and our local counsel practice.

The firm publishes Intellectual Property Trends (latest developments in IP law), Conversations with Innovators (interviews with thought leaders), Leaders in Law (insights from law leaders), Culture Counts (thoughts on law firm culture and business), and Legal Insights (in-depth analysis of IP, litigation, and transactional law).