Strict enforcement or connivance? Well-known brands accuse Amazon of allowing counterfeit goods to run rampant

According to foreign media reports, Adore Me, a well-known American DTC lingerie brand, recently accused Amazon of condoning the sale of counterfeit products of its brand on its platform .

Adore Me said that like many other popular brands, counterfeit Adore Me underwear products are rampant on Amazon , and many pictures even contain words such as "Adome" to mislead sellers into purchasing.

It is understood that Adore Me fakes have been prevalent on Amazon for many years. Concerned that the brand's customers would be snatched away by counterfeiters, Adore Me officially entered Amazon in April and announced that it would sell its products on the platform in order to combat fakes . However, Adore Me's move did not deter third-party sellers, and fakes are still rampant.

(Adore Me store on Amazon)

Ranjan Roy, president of strategy at Adore Me, said that once someone searches for "Adore Me" on Amazon, the first thing that pops up is a large number of counterfeit products rather than its brand's genuine products .

In response to Adore Me’s accusations, an Amazon spokesperson said that they had discovered the counterfeits and, after verification, had taken down and banned the listings that infringed on Adore Me’s intellectual property rights .

In response, Adore Me once again stated that Amazon's brand protection still has huge loopholes. Even if these illegal sellers are dealt with this time, when the incident gradually subsides and time passes, counterfeit goods will immediately reappear, not only stealing their brand product pictures , but even directly using misleading information such as Adore Me product names to induce consumers to consume. If Amazon condones counterfeit goods, then its profit will exceed 12 million US dollars.

Adore Me also pointed out that in this incident, it was downgraded by Amazon because it filed a complaint, which resulted in it being unable to contact anyone at Amazon by phone . The handling process was time-consuming, cumbersome and ineffective , and the processing efficiency needs to be improved.

According to background information on Amazon’s brand protection work , its measures to protect its brand include using automated technology to continuously monitor its website to detect potential infringement the moment products are launched , and employing more than 12,000 professionals such as machine learning scientists, software developers and expert investigators .

Amazon has always been generous in investing in technology for brand protection. It is understood that its automated technology can scan more than 8 billion product detail pages every day to find listings that violate intellectual property rights. In 2021, it also successfully blocked more than 4 billion bad listings.

Rampant counterfeiting is not a new problem on Amazon's platform. Over the years, the company has received more than one warning from the U.S. Trade Representative about counterfeiting, and founder Bezos also appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on this issue in 2020.

Recently, Amazon, along with eBay, Etsy and other platforms, faced accusations from fashion retailer In The Style because counterfeit "Rebellious Hope" T-shirts appeared on the platform.

Counterfeit products have always been the focus of U.S. federal regulators and Congress , and Amazon has invested heavily in recent years to crack down on them. After this accusation, it is foreseeable that Amazon's product compliance standards will be even stricter in the future.

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Fakes