Why Amazon Counterfeit Products Will Soon Be A Thing Of The Past

Amazon (AMZN) is taking a hard stance against counterfeit goods by partnering up with the U.S. government’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in a joint operation to protect its customers.

Through the operation, which is also being supported by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and DHL, Amazon and the IPR Center will analyze data and conduct what they called “targeted inspections” to prevent counterfeit products from entering the U.S. supply chain at the ports of entry.

Both entities will use evidence to expand investigations to hold “bad actors” accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

“Amazon conducts investigations and sidelines inventory if we suspect a product may be counterfeit, ensuring our customers are protected,” Dharmesh Mehta, vice president, Customer Trust and Partner Support at Amazon, said in a statement.

“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."

Amazon prohibits the sale of counterfeit products on its e-commerce site and said it invested more than $500 million in 2019 to protect its store and customers from counterfeit products as well as other forms of fraud and abuse through machine-learning and automated technologies that detect bad actors. Data gathered from these technologies will be provided to the IPR Center.

“The IPR Center plays a critical role in securing the global supply-chain to protect the health and safety of the American public,” IPR Center Director Steve Francis said in a statement. “However, our efforts are increased with partners like Amazon to identify, interdict, and investigate individuals, companies, and criminal organizations engaging in the illegal importation of counterfeit products. This joint operation is our latest public-private initiative bringing us one step closer to border security.”

The joint operation will be led by Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit, which was created earlier in 2020 to support law enforcement in their investigations of counterfeit merchandise and initiate civil litigation when warranted against these crimes.

Amazon, along with five other industry partners, also joined the IPR Center to fight fraud and criminal activity during the COVID pandemic under Operation Stolen Promise. Some retailers had been price-gouging consumers on essential products as demand skyrocketed for hand sanitizer, toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning products.

Shares of Amazon were trading at $3,128.00 as of 12:59 p.m. ET, gaining $29.61, or 0.96%.