Amazon’s Project Zero Combats Online Counterfeiting

Article by Nathalie Siah.

Amazon has launched a new initiative, Project Zero, attempting to limit brand counterfeiting on its platform. The name stems from Amazon’s goal to drive the sale of counterfeits clear to zero.

Currently, the anti-counterfeit measures in place rely on user feedback. Project Zero introduces several tools including automatic protections, self-service counterfeit removal, and product serialization which apply a unique code on every unit found in Amazon’s warehouse.

Automatic protection is powered by Amazon’s machine learning, and is able to scan online listings and remove potential counterfeits. Brand owners must provide key data points, such as a list of their trademarks, for scanning to be efficient.

The self-service tool, on the other hand, allows brand owners to remove infringing products without waiting for an Amazon review.

Finally, product serialization, gives brand owners a unique code for each unit in Amazon’s warehouses to ensure authenticity at a cost of between $0.01 to $0.05 per unit, based on volume.
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Project Zero is currently an invite-only program. In order to enroll in Project Zero, a brand owner must have a registered trademark, enroll in Amazon’s Brand Registry and join the waitlist.

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