New Anti-Counterfeit Initiative from Amazon

(November 24, 2020) - Amazon has teamed up with the US government’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) to help prevent fake goods from entering the country.

The organizations have launched ‘operation fulfilled action” that will be led by Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit, set up earlier this year to support law enforcement investigations and to initiate civil litigation against counterfeiters.

“Amazon conducts investigations and sidelines inventory if we suspect a product may be counterfeit,” said Dharmesh Mehta, VP of Customer Trust and Partner Support at Amazon. “But we also know that counterfeiters don’t just attempt to offer their wares in one store; they attempt to offer them in multiple places. Now, by combining intelligence from Amazon, the IPR Center and other agencies, we’re able to stop counterfeits at the border, regardless of where bad actors were intending to offer them.

The joint operation will analyze data and conduct targeted inspections aimed at preventing fake products from entering the US supply chain. The IPR Center said public-private initiatives such as this bring it “one step closer to border security”.

This is not the first example of cooperation between Amazon and the IPR Center. The e-tailer already provides the government agency with data on confirmed counterfeiters. Most recently, in May 2020, it was one of six firms to join the IPR Center in an effort to combat fraud and other illegal activity related to COVID-19 through Operation Stolen Promise. - (OPI)