Amazon has begun revealing details of its new Registry program to product manufacturers as it introduces new tools to deter counterfeiting and other intellectual product infringements on its marketplace.
The cover story in the HomeWorld Business March 13 issue detailed pitfalls and potential solutions regarding marketplace operations and counterfeiting, and it included Amazon’s assertion that it would use technology to combat counterfeiting and IP infringements such as unauthorized use of logos on its marketplace.
Representatives from the e-tailer discussed the new measures with HomeWorld Business at the ShopTalk show in Las Vegas, saying that demos of the Amazon Registry service it offered on an invitation basis at the event were the first the company has provided manufacturers outside of those involved in the program development. Designed to facilitate and enhance established processes, the Registry service allows IP rights holders to register trademark numbers and other proprietary information so that Amazon can act more promptly in removing products that are counterfeit or otherwise offending than has been the case.
The Amazon representative on hand at the show also outlined another tool it is developing to help deter IP infringement dubbed Transparency. Although that’s not ready for rollout yet, the service will allow manufacturers to identify actual products so that they can detect items that are in IP violation as they enter the marketplace and get them removed. Shoppers also will be able to access Transparency data so they can check if the products they are purchasing are genuine or fake.
In a ShopTalk session, Peter Faricy, Amazon vp/marketplace, said that from discussions with brand owners, the e-tailer recognizes that “it’s very critical that we protect their intellectual property.”
As such, he told the ShopTalk audience, Amazon is “doubling down” on its investment in working with brands to protect their intellectual property rights and to maintain a solid relationship with customers who might be disappointed in receiving counterfeit or misrepresented products.
Faricy introduced the Registry service to the audience as a way for any brand in the world to identify the intellectual property they own and “put Amazon in a position where we can protect your products across the Amazon marketplace across the world.”
He noted Amazon had applied technology to develop the Transparency service as way to trace products through the Amazon marketplace supply chain, and spot fake or misrepresented items when they pop up where the legitimate merchandise doesn’t belong.
