In December 2024, Amazon hosted our third-annual Brand Protection Experience Sharing Meeting in Shanghai, China, bringing together global leaders to share anti-counterfeiting and intellectual property (IP) protection strategies. Law enforcement officials, industry associations, and brand owners gathered to share knowledge, strengthen collaborations, and develop innovative strategies to combat counterfeiting and protect IP rights.
Counterfeiting is a global problem that requires a global solution. According to an estimate by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), pirated and counterfeit products account for 2.5% of world trade, equivalent to a staggering $464 billion in 2019 alone. This issue not only undermines consumer trust but also poses significant threats to innovation and economic growth. The doubling of attendance at this year’s meeting reflects the growing recognition of the importance of working across borders and industries to protect IP and hold bad actors accountable. As counterfeiting tactics evolve, so too must the strategies to combat them. This annual gathering serves as a crucial platform for developing and sharing these strategies.
Setting the stage for collaborative action against counterfeiting
The opening session set a clear direction: counterfeiting is a global problem and effective brand protection requires coordinated action across borders, agencies, and technologies. Leaders from Amazon, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC) outlined three key pillars for success.
- Information sharing is transforming how we fight counterfeits. Representatives from Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) spoke to how we work alongside brands and law enforcement to stop criminals, highlighting recent successes with Chinese authorities and international brands.
- Rights owners need adaptable strategies to address evolving infringement tactics. The USPTO shared practical frameworks for protecting intellectual property in dynamic global markets, emphasizing how companies can stay ahead of emerging threats.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing brand protection. New AI-powered tools are enhancing detection capabilities, while facilitating faster collaboration between industry committees and enforcement agencies. This technological advancement, combined with cross-border cooperation, is setting new benchmarks for protecting brands and consumers.
Innovative strategies reshaping brand protection
The event continued with a series of keynote speeches from industry leaders and experts, each offering unique insights into the challenges and opportunities in brand protection, focusing on building a comprehensive defense, strengthening global trademark protection, and making real-world impact through coordinated action.
Katharine Lister, global director on Amazon’s Customer Trust team, highlighted Amazon’s commitment to creating a trustworthy shopping experience through our proactive, and technology-driven, approach to combating counterfeits and protecting intellectual property. The importance of global collaboration in fighting counterfeits was another highlight, with Lister citing collaborations with organizations like the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as well as with brands. She concluded by addressing the emerging challenges posed by AI and emphasizing the need for continued innovation and partnership. “We have to work together, because the challenges we all face are growing,” Lister stated, reinforcing Amazon’s commitment to leveraging technology and collaboration to stay ahead of bad actors.
Following Lister, Wen Xue, China office counsel for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), educated the audience on protecting brands in global markets. Xue emphasized how Chinese businesses can leverage the Madrid System for international trademark registration, highlighting both the costly consequences of reactive brand protection and the strategic advantages of proactive registration across multiple countries.
Robin Smith, vice president and general counsel for the LEGO Group in China and APAC, spoke to how the LEGO Group worked with Amazon’s CCU and collaborated with law enforcement to seize the largest haul of counterfeit production equipment the company had ever obtained globally. “It’s an astounding accomplishment, far beyond what we imagined when we embarked on this journey,” Smith remarked. “The synergy was remarkable. Amazon provided us with crucial data…and even supported us in our dialogues with the Shanghai Police, creating a unified front against the counterfeiters.”
The keynote session concluded with Joe Wheatley, a senior corporate counsel at Amazon on the CCU team, who offered an insider’s look into our global efforts to disrupt and dismantle counterfeiting operations. “Since June of 2020, we have referred or sued over 21,000 bad actors,” said Wheatley. “That’s a staggering number, spanning the entire world, and we’re constantly expanding our efforts.”
As the event concluded, participants left with new insights, strengthened collaborations, and a renewed commitment to the fight against counterfeiting. Amazon reaffirmed its dedication to investing in advanced technologies, fostering global collaborations, and continuously innovating to stay ahead of counterfeiters.
“The third annual Amazon Brand Protection Experience Sharing Meeting represents an important moment in our ongoing efforts to combat counterfeiting and protect brands and customers,” said Lister. “By bringing together diverse stakeholders from around the world, we’re fostering the kind of collaboration and knowledge-sharing that is essential to staying ahead of bad actors.”
Learn more about our approach to anti-counterfeiting and protecting intellectual property.
Amazon strictly prohibits the sale of counterfeit products. In 2023, we invested more than 1.2 billion dollars and employed over 15,000 people—including machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert investigators—dedicated to protecting customers from unsafe products, counterfeit, fraud, and other forms of abuse. In the same year, we identified, seized, and appropriately disposed of more than 7 million counterfeit products worldwide, preventing them from harming customers or being resold elsewhere in the retail supply chain.
Amazon is committed to fostering public- and private-sector partnerships to strengthen defenses against counterfeit threats. We work with leading organizations, including consumer, advocacy, local and national enforcement agencies, and research organizations, to develop solutions and share best practices to help scale our efforts.