Amazon zeroes in on counterfeits in seven new countries

Amazon is spreading its “Project Zero” anti-counterfeiting program across the globe.

Launched in the U.S. in February 2019, Project Zero provides automated and self-service safeguards against counterfeit goods being sold on Amazon’s online stores. The e-tail giant is expanding the program to Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, and the UAE. With this expansion, Project Zero is now available in 17 countries.

Project Zero combines Amazon’s technology and machine learning capabilities with brands’ own intellectual property knowledge in a cooperative effort to drive counterfeits to zero. Project Zero uses three key components to detect counterfeit products on Amazon storefronts. 

Amazon’s automated protections proactively and continuously scan more than 5 billion attempted daily product listing updates globally to look for suspicious listings. These automated protections are powered by Amazon’s machine learning and are continuously fed new information to enable continuous improvement in automatically preventing and blocking potential counterfeit listings.

A self-service tool enables brands to directly remove listings from an Amazon store. These removals also feed into the e-tailer’s automated protections. And Project Zero enables product serialization via a unique code that brands apply within their manufacturing or packaging process. The code allows Amazon to individually scan and confirm the authenticity of every single purchase of a brand’s enrolled products from Amazon’s stores. 

While product serialization is optional, Amazon says brands enrolled in Project Zero are seeing the best results when using the service.“Amazon is committed to protecting our customers and the brands we collaborate with worldwide,” said Dharmesh Mehta, VP of worldwide customer trust and partner support. “Project Zero has been a leap forward in protecting brands, especially for those that use all three of its components.”

Over 10,000 brands, including BMW, ChessCentral, LifeProof, OtterBox, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Veet, have already enrolled in Project Zero. Brands that are enrolled in Amazon Project Zero and already have a trademark enrolled in one of the newly-launched countries will automatically be able to use Project Zero in these additional stores.