How to report a counterfeit on Amazon, with or without a trademark

Where do you report a counterfeit on Amazon?

Amazon has two routes. Any rights owner can use the public Report Infringement form, which asks you to sign in. Brands enrolled in Brand Registry also get Report a Violation, a guided reporting workflow inside their account.

We opened amazon.com/report/infringement on 5 November 2026 and it sent us straight to an Amazon sign-in page, so we couldn't see the form's fields from outside. Amazon's Brand Registry page describes it as a publicly available form for reporting alleged infringements, copyright and trademark concerns among them. Report a Violation is the enrolled version, and Amazon says it handles IP reports alongside policy and compliance reports in one place.

If your copies aren't only on Amazon, the guide to where to report copies on each marketplace has the same routes for the others, and the Takedown Routes Index shows the date each link was last checked.

What counts as a counterfeit on Amazon?

In Amazon's definition, counterfeiting requires a registered trademark on the product, packaging or detail page, so without one your strongest report is usually copyright in your own photos. A knockoff sold under its own name, with its own photos, may not be a counterfeit at all.

The Project Zero page spells it out: a counterfeit is an unlawful reproduction of a registered trademark, or a mark very similar to one, used to imply that the product is genuine. That matters because the tools differ. A listing that uses your studio photos is a copyright problem, whoever made the product. A listing that puts your logo on a fake is a trademark problem. Plenty of listings are both, and then you'd report both.

Amazon is strict about it on paper. Its Anti-Counterfeiting policy says the sale of non-authentic products is strictly prohibited. If a seller sells inauthentic products, Amazon says it may immediately suspend or terminate the selling account, and any related accounts, and dispose of the fakes in its fulfillment centers at the seller's expense.

You'll usually spot it the same way. Your bestseller, your photo, a price that makes no sense, and a seller name you've never heard of. Before you report, screenshot the listing with the URL and price in view, and note the date. Listings change, and your evidence should show what you saw.

How do you report a counterfeit on Amazon without a trademark?

Report it as copyright infringement if the listing uses your photos or text. You don't need to register the copyright to send a notice, but you do need to own it. Use the Report Infringement form after signing in, and identify each listing separately.

Ownership is the step people skip. Under 17 U.S.C. 201, copyright belongs first to whoever took the photo. If you shot it, it's yours. If an employee shot it as part of the job, it's the company's. If a freelancer shot it, they usually own it unless your contract assigned it, and 17 U.S.C. 204 says a transfer isn't valid unless it's in writing and signed. Our guide for when someone stole your product photos covers that check in detail.

A copyright notice has six required elements under 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(A), and a registration number isn't one of them. One of them is identifying each copy with enough information for the platform to find it, which is why you list every listing, not just the seller's store. Our explainer on what a DMCA notice must say goes through the rest.

What does Brand Registry need, and what does it add?

Brand Registry is free. Amazon asks for a logo that includes your brand name, permanently affixed to your products or packaging, and a pending or registered trademark from a government office in a country with an Amazon store. You must own the trademark; agents get added later as users.

Amazon says Brand Registry helps protect a brand even if you don't sell in the Amazon store. Once you're in, its automated protections use what you tell Amazon about your brand to find and remove suspected bad listings before they reach customers, and you report the rest through Report a Violation. Amazon also says accurate submissions strengthen those automated protections over time. That's a good reason not to report anything you're unsure of.

No trademark yet? A US application has a base fee of $350 per class on the USPTO fee schedule. Amazon's IP Accelerator connects you with vetted law firms whose maximum fee for filing a US trademark application is $700 plus government fees, and it lets you enroll in Brand Registry once the application is pending. We'd file early. Every trademark complaint, on Amazon or anywhere else, rests on one.

The Counterfeit Crimes Unit

Brand Registry also lists Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit, which it says works with law enforcement to stop bad actors and hold them accountable. We couldn't find public referral criteria for it, so raise a persistent seller through Brand Registry support, with your report history.

What are Project Zero and Transparency, in Amazon's own words?

Amazon describes Project Zero as the ability to block and remove counterfeit listings immediately: eligible brands search for them and remove them themselves. Transparency puts a unique serial code on every unit so fakes can be caught before they reach customers. Both need a registered trademark, and Project Zero is free.

Read the 99% line twice. Project Zero is the closest thing Amazon offers to automated takedowns, and it's only safe if someone checks every listing before removing it. A 90% acceptance rate alone won't get you in: Amazon says it reviews other criteria too, and invites you once you meet them all.

Transparency is the heavier lift. Amazon says more than 2.7 billion units have been verified as genuine through it, citing its own data from May 2026, and it protects products in 10 Amazon stores. It suits a brand that controls its packaging line. For a small brand with a few hero products, Brand Registry and careful reporting usually come first.

What happens after you report a counterfeit on Amazon?

If Amazon accepts the report, the listing comes down and the seller is told. The seller can appeal with invoices or order IDs that show the product is genuine, ask you for a retraction, or counter-notice a copyright claim. Amazon says it terminates repeat infringers' accounts in appropriate circumstances.

The seller's options are set out in Amazon's Intellectual Property Policy for sellers. For counterfeit claims about the product itself, they can send an invoice or order ID, and Amazon re-evaluates. If they hold a license from you, they ask you for a retraction. Expect a few of those emails, and answer the ones that come with real paperwork.

A copyright counter-notice runs on a fixed clock. Under 17 U.S.C. 512(g), the listing goes back up 10 to 14 business days after Amazon receives it, unless you tell Amazon you've filed a court action. Our guide to the DMCA counter-notice walks through your options in that window.

Then there's the seller who simply opens another store. It's common. The answer is a routine rather than one more report. Read how to stop repeat counterfeit sellers before the second wave arrives.

Should you report it yourself or get help?

For a handful of listings, report them yourself; it's free and the forms are built for it. Once copies arrive every week, you need Project Zero or help that finds copies and prepares the reports. Call a lawyer when a seller fights back or is worth suing.

Be clear about what software can do here. Brand Protection Tools searches for copies of your products and photos, groups real matches by seller, and prepares the notice for you to file. We start with Etsy and Alibaba.com, and Amazon comes later, so for Amazon today we'd point you to Brand Registry's own tools first. When we cover it, our plans and pricing page will say so.

When to call a lawyer

• You're filing a trademark and want it cleared before you launch.
• A seller counter-notices and you want the listing to stay down.
• The same seller or factory keeps coming back at a scale worth suing.
• Someone accuses your products of infringing theirs.