Brother Joins Amazon Fighting Against Counterfeiting in Europe

Brother Joins Amazon Fighting Against Counterfeiting in Europe

For the first time, Amazon filed a civil lawsuit jointly with an OEM against counterfeiters in Europe.

According to Amazon, Brother collaborated with Amazon in legal action against eighteen suspected members of a Germany-based counterfeit ring (collectively, the “defendants”), alleging that they attempted to deceive customers by selling fake toner cartridges marketed as genuine products.

“We have zero tolerance for counterfeit products in our stores. This is the first lawsuit of its kind we have filed in Europe, and makes it crystal clear that we take aggressive action to hold bad actors accountable wherever they operate,” said Kebharu Smith, director of the Amazon CCU. “We will continue to fight alongside businesses of all sizes to protect customers from fake products and protect brands from having their intellectual property rights infringed.”

The lawsuit was filed with the Regional Court of Berlin.  The suspects are alleged to have purchased empty original Brother toner cartridges and refilled them with inauthentic toner powder. The fake cartridges are designed to look like genuine products. In addition to filing the lawsuit, Brother and Amazon referred the alleged counterfeit ring to local police.

“Brother places its customers first everywhere, every time. We are committed to detecting counterfeits online and offline by working with our partners such as Amazon CCU and law enforcement authorities in order to protect our customers,” said Isao Noji, Managing Director of Brother International Europe Ltd.

Amazon is deeply committed to protecting brands’ intellectual property and strictly prohibits counterfeit products in its stores. In 2021, Amazon invested more than $900 million and employed more than 12,000 people dedicated to protecting customers, brands, selling partners, and the store from counterfeit, fraud, and other forms of abuse.

Mr Noji of Brother International Europe added: “Protecting intellectual property has become one of the most important actions for Brother. It is not only about protecting our trademarks, copyrights, and patents; but also protecting our customers and the trust they have in our products and brand. It is of vital importance for Brother customers and partners to always buy from reliable channels, suppliers, and retailers; to authenticate the product and verify it is genuine; and check the packaging and the printing quality.”

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