Amazon has acknowledged a worsening counterfeit problem on its site and says it has made fighting the fake products a "major goal" for next year (via The Verge).

Last month Apple filed a lawsuit against Mobile Star LLC which it accused of infringing upon its trademarks and copyrights by selling counterfeit power adapters and cables on Amazon. Apple claimed the fake products posed a risk to life, and said it had found that almost 90 percent of so-called genuine Apple products and accessories it purchased from Amazon over the last nine months were actually counterfeit.

amazon-review-mobile-star
Following the lawsuit, Amazon said it had "zero tolerance for the sale of counterfeits" on its website and said it was working closely with manufacturers and brands to aggressively pursue the wrongdoers.

Bloomberg reports that Amazon now says it plans to create a registry to prevent fakes and wants legitimate brands to register even if they don't plan on selling products on the site. Merchants then have to obtain official brand permission before they can sell goods from the company.

Amazon has reportedly been experimenting with Nike and other brands to build the registry, but the company says it will target more brands in 2017 in an attempt to get them to sell their products on Amazon's marketplace. According to the report, Amazon tried to get the NFL and MLB to sell merchandise through its online marketplace, but the negotiations stalled because of a perceived lack of control over existing fake goods.

Tag: Amazon

Top Rated Comments

Kebabselector Avatar
110 months ago
I think the Marketplace cheapens the brand (and they are not the only people to do this). If I wanted cheap dodgy goods I'd use ebay.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
110 months ago
Long overdue, but great news.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phil A. Avatar
110 months ago
If Mobile Star would pay the license of their product to Apple would that make all their product MFi? Obviously Mobile Star is infringing the design and they need to pay their dues.
I think the biggest problem is they've been selling stuff as "genuine apple" when it's clearly nothing of the kind: Nothing to do with paying dues and everything to do with blatant counterfeiting as I understand it
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ftaok Avatar
110 months ago
The reason why I brought that up because the functionality of the product that is copied works just like the original or an MFI product. Obviously Apple argues about safely but if this was licensed then it is now labeled as safe. I know about issues being caught on fire but it did happen to Apple products or MFI licensed product as well. I know for sure that this company is blatantly counterfeiting the product.
The problem is that the MobileStar chargers look just like the Apple chargers, but they skimp on the quality of the internals. From the outside, they look just like Apple chargers, plus they are listed as Apple OEM chargers.

This is the definition of counterfeit.

It's not like Anker with the mifi license. Anker stuff doesn't looke like Apple stuff.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PBG4 Dude Avatar
110 months ago
Funny how Amazon didn't see a problem when Birkenstock pulled all product from Amazon due to fakes but as soon as Apple launches a suit, it's a different story completely.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
definitive Avatar
110 months ago
They should have done this years ago. Now they're looking like the jerks in the eyes of the customers, so they have to do something.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.5 With New Wallpaper, Screen Time Changes, Carrier Satellite Support for iPhone 13 and More

Monday May 12, 2025 10:06 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, the fifth updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 come a little over a month after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. The iOS 18.5 update has a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

WSJ: Apple Weighing Price Hikes for iPhone 17 Lineup Without Blaming Tariffs

Monday May 12, 2025 3:36 am PDT by
Apple is considering raising prices for its upcoming iPhone 17 models set to release this fall, according to people familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal. The company reportedly aims to pair the potential price hikes with new features and design changes to justify the increased cost to consumers, rather than attributing them to U.S. tariffs on goods from China. The...
tvOS 18 Feature

Apple Releases tvOS 18.5

Monday May 12, 2025 10:01 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.5, the latest version of the tvOS operating system. tvOS 18.5 comes a little over a month after the launch of tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.5 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software. ‌Apple TV‌ owners who have...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.5

Monday May 12, 2025 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.5, the fifth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched last September. macOS Sequoia 15.5 comes a little over a month after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.4. Mac users can download the ‌‌‌macOS Sequoia 15.5‌‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Expected This Week With These New Features

Monday May 12, 2025 7:20 am PDT by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple is expected to release iOS 18.5 to the general public this week. While the software update is relatively minor, it still includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.5. Pride Wallpaper Apple recently announced its 2025 Pride Collection, including a new Apple Watch band, watch face,...
Apple Logo Spotlight Blue

Report: Apple Preparing to Launch Mind-Control Support for iPhones

Tuesday May 13, 2025 6:18 am PDT by
Apple is planning to allow users to natively control iPhones, iPads, and other devices using brain signals later this year, The Wall Street Journal reports. The initiative involves a partnership with Synchron, a neurotechnology startup that produces an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) device called the Stentrode. The Stentrode enables users with severe motor impairments, such as...