Amazon Corporate Counsel Says Counterfeits Will Remain
Potentially deadly counterfeits remain despite repeated complaints
March 28, 2019 - Los Angeles, CA – When you make a claim, you better make sure it’s true and that you’re actually doing what you claim you’re doing. When you get caught in a lie or exaggeration, your credibility is destroyed. That's happened to Amazon, who is facing an avalanche of counterfeit and fraudulent product sales, scams, and fake reviews, along with allegations of data leaks and employee bribes.
Myth:
Amazon's policy is simple and clear: "Products offered for sale on Amazon must be authentic. The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited."
For clarification, Amazon even adds: "Prohibited products include bootlegs, fakes, or pirated copies of products or content; products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured; and products that infringe another party’s intellectual property rights."
"We work with manufacturers, rights holders, content owners, vendors, and sellers to improve the ways we detect and prevent inauthentic products from reaching our customers."
Read the full policy statement
Fact:
Amazon's claims are patently false.
Amazon is a direct seller of counterfeits, and also enables and facilitates unvetted third-party vendors to sell and deliver counterfeits worldwide.
The Counterfeit Report, an award winning consumer advocate and counterfeit watchdog, has purchased over 375 counterfeit items from Amazon, and removed over 56,000 counterfeits on behalf of brand owners. Despite repeated infringement complaints, the counterfeits often remain.
Amazon Corporate Counsel Annasara Purcell recently responded to The Counterfeit Report's complaints of Amazon's inaction in removing counterfeits, writing "We remove suspected counterfeit items as soon as we become aware of them, and we remove bad actors from selling on Amazon," but only some, adds Ms. Purcell; "trademark rights are jurisdiction specific and the fact that a brand has rights in one country is not indicative of comparable rights worldwide."
In other words, if its counterfeit in one country, it may be OK to sell on other Amazon global websites and deliver worldwide states Amazon's Corporate Counsel, even adding for clarification; "to provide just one example, when you ask Amazon to remove an item from Amazon.co.uk [Amazon United Kingdom] but include only a U.S. trademark registration number in your notice, Amazon cannot take action on this notice."
Counsel's statements are hard to reconcile with Amazon's policy: "Products offered for sale on Amazon must be authentic. The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited." In reality, counterfeits can be listed on any Amazon global website and shipped worldwide to duped consumers.
What makes this particularly appalling is that The Counterfeit Report did just that. As the authorized agent for the brand owner who manufactures the real $495.00 Mongoose® auto diagnostic interface cable (shown below);
Amazon dodged the listing removals and the counterfeits are delivered to deceived consumers. Amazon still takes its transaction fee for each fake item sold.
Amazon's "A-z Guarantee" also joined the list of lies; "We stand behind the products sold on our site with our A-to-z Guarantee, and we encourage rights owners who have product authenticity concerns to notify us" didn't hold up when Amazon refused refunds for some of the fakes, claiming "you are not eligible for a refund under the A-z Guarantee." Even more shocking, Amazon went on to fabricate and then deny a nonexistent appeal for its initial decision.
Sadly, this dangerous and potentially deadly counterfeit and accompanying software probably won't gain any consumer attention. However, if used on your car, or the car driving next to you, the consequences could be severe or deadly. The authentic Mongoose® electronic interface cable and software kit is used by skilled auto dealers and repair technicians to program vehicle computers including braking, steering, emissions, airbags and safety equipment. Counterfeits can damage or destroy vehicle computers, change odometer readings and alter critical system and safety settings.
Amazon recently wrote in its SEC 10K filing "We also may be unable to prevent sellers in our stores or through other stores from selling unlawful, counterfeit, pirated, or stolen goods, selling goods in an unlawful or unethical manner, violating the proprietary rights of others, or otherwise violating our policies."
That is certainly true when you don't try.
Amazon has some explaining to do.
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