False Names and Fake Addresses: Inside Amazon’s Seller Lawsuits
It’s hard to hold sellers accountable, even with Amazon’s help
Lawsuits against Amazon sellers are one way brands can fight counterfeits—if they can find the responsible parties, that is.
Kacy Burdette
Key insights:
- The complaints include unknown parties identified as John Does 1-10, whom lawyers have to track down.
- It’s unclear how Amazon can prevent hard-to-find sellers from reappearing under different names.
- More than a year after filing a case with Nite Ize, seller identity remains unknown.
- Existing laws enable Amazon to take this ad hoc approach.
At the high-profile Big Tech congressional hearing last week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos called counterfeits a “scourge” that harm customers and “honest third-party sellers” on the platform.
