Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) along with Prada and other luxury brands have collaborated with Chinese law enforcement to secure a landmark victory in a counterfeiting case. The defendant ultimately pled guilty and has been sentenced to three years imprisonment. They must also pay a $25,000 fine and forfeit all revenue gained from the sale of counterfeit goods. All of the defendant's remaining inventory of counterfeit products will be seized and destroyed.
The outcome of this case is particularly significant, as the guilty plea was based on overseas sales data and inventory records provided by the Amazon CCU and Prada. Typically, criminal counterfeiting cases are supported by evidence acquired through law enforcement raids but in this case, the Court predominantly relied on information provided by Amazon, Prada and other brand holders from outside of China to reach a decision, rather than evidence of seized counterfeit products per se.
Amazon initially identified the counterfeiter in question in 2021 and referred the case to the Chinese Public Security Bureau following internal investigations by the CCU. Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon's CCU said:
The guilty plea is a significant win for Amazon's CCU, but more importantly it's a win for all of those who share our commitment to tackling the industry-wide issue of counterfeiting
Amazon is hailing this victory as a "turning point for Intellectual Property rights owners" and I hope they are right. It is clear that this result has been achieved through significant collaboration between Amazon, IP rights holders and local law enforcement and hopefully sets a precedent for counterfeit prosecutions moving forward. As a result of collaborative industry efforts, such as Amazon's Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange initiative and the EUIPO's IP Enforcement Portal, there is no doubt a large amount of cross-jurisdictional information available regarding the origins of counterfeit products and those responsible that could hopefully be used to secure more successful prosecutions as we have seen in this case.
It will be interesting to see whether this decision will inspire further prosecutions both in China and elsewhere based on similar overseas data going forward.
We are firmly committed to eradicating the sale of counterfeit goods to protect our brands and to ensure that our products meet the level of quality, craftsmanship and care that people expect from us. Through the collaboration with Amazon, we are making great progress in the fight against those who attempt to break the law and to negatively impact our customers - Francesca Secondari, Prada Group General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer
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