Amazon protects sellers’ rights in all aspects: paying equal attention to brand and non-brand products

Amazon has always been committed to providing a safe brand ecosystem for brand sellers. It not only invests huge resources in combating counterfeit products, but also introduces a series of protective measures. Taking 2020 as an example, Amazon invested more than $700 million to protect customers and brand sellers from fraud and abuse. In addition, Amazon has set up a counterfeiting crime unit (ACCU), which is responsible for joint investigations with brands and cooperating with law enforcement agencies to prosecute counterfeiters.

Protecting branded goods: combating counterfeiting and improving transparency

1. Reporting infringement

The Amazon platform explicitly prohibits the posting of any products that infringe on intellectual property rights. When brand sellers find that their intellectual property rights have been abused, they can use the “Report Violation” tool to lodge a complaint with Amazon. Locate suspected infringing products through titles, pictures or ASINs, and select the type of infringement. After submission, wait for Amazon platform review. Once the review is passed, it will be removed from the shelves immediately.

2. Transparency

Transparency is a product tracking and authenticity verification service officially provided by Amazon to sellers. It can track every item and protect brands and consumers from counterfeit goods from the following four aspects:

• Pre-active anti-counterfeiting protection: Amazon adopts a proactive protection mechanism in advance and implements Transparency checks during product release, warehousing, and distribution to ensure that sellers sell and deliver genuine products;
• Avoid fake product reviews: Protect the seller’s brand from potential counterfeit products posted by other sellers in this brand’s ASIN, thereby protecting the product’s buyer reviews from fake impact of goods;
• Easy verification of product authenticity: No matter where the product is purchased, buyers can use the Amazon Shopping App APP or Transparency App APP to scan the Transparency barcode on the product to verify the authenticity of the purchased product. Authenticity;
• Expose more brand information: In addition to verifying authenticity, buyers can also see information about individual products, including production date, etc., to deepen consumers’ impression of the brand.

Protecting unbranded goods: interpretation of new policies

New policy background

The so-called “unbranded goods” refer to goods that do not belong to any known brand. Sellers often use the “Generic” string in the brand name field when creating this type of listing. Such products are becoming more and more popular on e-commerce platforms, but they also face some problems, such as malicious operations by unscrupulous sellers and confusing information. In order to improve this situation, Amazon has launched new policies aimed at protecting the rights of sellers of unbranded products while increasing buyers’ trust in such products.

Details of the policy

The core content of the new policy includes the following points:

• Brand name “Generic” or its local translation: Sellers can use the brand name “Generic” or its local translation when creating new unbranded product listings;
• Protect product detail pages: If a seller creates a new listing using the brand name “Generic” or its local translation, other sellers will not be able to change the product detail page or add offers;
• Prevent malicious actions: If a seller attempts to change the product detail page or add an offer to another seller’s unbranded product, the seller will receive a product information error;
• Product Coding Requirements: If a seller creates a new unbranded product without a unique identifier (such as a Universal Product Code “UPC” or a Global Trade Item Number “GTIN”), they must request that the product be identified in the relevant mall and corresponding Exemption from GTIN in product classification;
• Brand name cannot be changed: Per the Edit Details page policy, once an ASIN is created, the brand name cannot be changed.

Protection of rights and interests of brand sellers

In addition to the new policy’s protection for sellers of unbranded goods, Amazon also provides a series of brand protection tools:

• Automatic Brand Protection: When brand sellers complete Amazon Brand Registration and provide data related to their brands, products, and intellectual property, Amazon provides preventive protection through machine learning to block inappropriate listings Release;
• Transparency Program: This is Amazon’s product tracking and authenticity verification service for brands and consumers, which can protect brands and consumers from counterfeit goods;
• Project Zero: Brands that have obtained permission to use Project Zero based on filtering conditions can directly remove counterfeit products from Amazon without having to report and wait for the results. Amazon will monitor the accuracy of the reports.

The comprehensive use of these tools and policies aims to maintain a fair competitive environment in the Amazon market, protect the legitimate rights and interests of brands and sellers, and at the same time increase buyers’ trust in products.

Conclusion

Amazon’s new policy provides sellers of unbranded products with more protection and buyer trust. At the same time, brands can also protect their intellectual property rights and brand reputation through a series of tools provided by Amazon. These measures contribute to the healthy development of the Amazon market and allow consumers to shop on the platform with greater confidence.