Counterfeit BMW articles

Success for Amazon in the fight against brand piracy

The fraudsters had attempted to sell counterfeit products such as valve caps, emblems and key fobs.

(Bild: Associated Press)

Amazon and BWW have successfully brought a joint action against the trade in counterfeit BMW products before the European Union Trademark Court in Alicante, Spain. The court convicted four people based in Spain for attempting to sell counterfeit parts and accessories from the car manufacturer on Amazon throughout Europe, the companies announced in a joint statement on Thursday.

Accordingly, the fraudsters may no longer offer the counterfeit products, must destroy them and pay damages to the plaintiffs. It is the first success of its kind in court in Spain that Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) and BMW have achieved.

The fraudsters convicted in the civil case had violated laws, breached Amazon's policies and disregarded the BMW Group's registered trademarks by trying to sell counterfeit products such as valve caps, emblems and key rings. They had even submitted fake proofs of origin.

Amazon detected the suspicious activity using advanced machine learning technology and worked with BMW to confirm that the products in question were counterfeit. Amazon subsequently suspended the defendants' sales accounts, removed the offers associated with the case and compensated the affected customers on its own initiative.

Billions lost through brand piracy
Figures released by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO/Alicante) in January show just how serious the economic consequences of product piracy are. According to these figures, European manufacturers of clothing, cosmetics and toys lose around 16 billion euros in sales every year due to counterfeit goods. In addition, around 200,000 jobs are lost as a result of such fraud. An important distribution channel for such goods is the Internet.

Amazon has been assured that it takes the problem very seriously. "Amazon has zero tolerance for counterfeit products and will lead the fight against counterfeiters wherever they operate," said Kebharu Smith, head of the CCU.