Amazon thwarted 2.5 mn attempts to create offerings, seized 3 mn counterfeit products in 2021

While shopping online, one is always concerned whether they are paying for an authentic product or a counterfeit one. In a bid to make this mammoth task easier for its users and brands listed on its platform, online shopping behemoth Amazon released the second Brand Protection Report in a bid to expose sellers selling fake products.

Amazon stopped over 2.5 million attempts to create new selling accounts in 2021, down from over 6 million attempts in 2020. The brand identified, seized and disposed more than 3 million counterfeit products including those sent to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Amazon also worked with brands and law enforcement agencies to zero down on counterfeiters’ warehouses and facilities and get them shut down.

Amazon’s Brand Registry comprises over 700,000 active brands in 2021, an increase of 40 per cent from 2020. Average number of valid notices of infringements submitted by a brand listed in the Brand Registry dropped by 25 per cent in 2021 from the previous year given growth in adoption and efficacy of automated brand protection tools, as per this report.

The e-commerce firm filed litigations against 170 counterfeiters in US courts and sued or referred over 600 criminals for investigation in the US, UK, EU and China.  This is an increase of 300 per cent over 2020.

Amazon Brand Registry Director Raj Kizhakkekalathil said, “Protecting brands against infringement requires constant vigilance and continuous innovation. The valuable information provided by brands via Brand Registry allows us to proactively prevent infringing products from surfacing in our stores worldwide. We take great pride in our mission to protect brands and customers.”

Amazon partners with brands like GoPro, Hanesbrands, Salvatore Ferragamo, Procter and Gamble, Valentino, Weber and Whirlpool to pursue counterfeit product sellers worldwide.

This report judges progress vis-à-vis tackling malpractices on three parameters—powerful and highly effective effects to protect Amazon store, industry-leading tools that enable rights owners to partner with us to improve brand protection and holding bad actors (or counterfeiters) accountable.

In 2020, Amazon formed a dedicated Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) for the purpose of identifying counterfeiters. The CCU comprises former federal prosecutors, FBI agents, experienced investigators and data.

In 2021, the e-commerce bellwether invested over $900 million and hired more than 12,000 people dedicated to protecting customers, selling partners and stores against counterfeit products, fraud and other forms of abuse. People hired in the year included expert investigators, software developers and machine learning scientists.