Canon and Amazon Win Lawsuit Against Counterfeit Batteries and Chargers

Canon and Amazon have won a default judgment against 29 seller accounts that were engaged in what the two characterize as the illegal sale of counterfeit “Canon” batteries and chargers.

The lawsuit, jointly filed by Canon and Amazon, was originally filed on May 10, 2024 and alleged that 29 accounts were using Amazon’s storefront to sell counterfeit Canon batteries. These types of batteries should not be confused with third-party batteries that are designed to work in Canon cameras but are not branded Canon — the issue is that these sellers were positioning their third-party options as first-party, which infringed on Canon’s copyrights.

For its part, Amazon says that it acted in conjunction with Canon to deal with these products as soon as it “detected the attempted abuse.”

Amazon says that it typically can identify and quash counterfeits from appearing for sale quickly thanks to the “advanced machine learning techniques” that it has developed. However, that doesn’t always work and it does sometimes have to rely on feedback from customers, brands, and others to remove those products from its store. Amazon says that it works closely with brands like Canon and global law enforcement agencies to “hold bad actors accountable.” As such, it was “pleased to collaborate with the iconic camera brand.”

Canon has, for years, stated that these types of batteries are not only misleading to consumers but are potentially unsafe.

“Canon aggressively pursues counterfeiters in the United States and around the world to protect its customers from fake and potentially unsafe products, which unlawfully use the Canon name, as well as to protect the value, trusted reputation, and loyalty that the Canon brand has acquired over decades in producing high-quality, safe, and reliable products,” the company said when it filed the trademark infringement lawsuit in 2023.

“Sales of counterfeit goods on e-commerce websites are increasing in proportion to the growth of the e-commerce market, and Canon and Amazon are collaborating in fighting against counterfeiters and protecting both of our customers. This joint lawsuit was filed as a part of our collaboration.”

This week, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington obtained a default judgment in the case, finding in favor of Canon and Amazon. A default judgment refers to situations where one of the parties fails to take proper legal action. This can mean improper paperwork or failure to respond to summons or appear in court.

“Our anti-counterfeiting strategy which, in part, involves partnering with Amazon to sue counterfeiters who attempt to sell counterfeit goods on Amazon’s marketplace is meant to demonstrate to all American consumers that the trust and confidence they have given to Canon when buying our high quality and reliable products is precious to us. We will not tolerate the fraud perpetrated on consumers and our brand by counterfeiters,” Seymour Liebman, Canon U.S.A., Inc.’s Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and General Counsel, says.

PetaPixel’s Take

Photographers often spend their money on cameras and lenses, choosing to instead focus on saving when it comes to accessories like memory cards and batteries. These counterfeit brands know that they can take advantage of this rather predictable action by selling what appear to be legitimate Canon products that are, inexplicably, more affordable than other options. On Amazon, these discounted products can often just look like a good deal, as most buyers aren’t paying attention to a camera brand’s official sales.

For all these buyers know, they’re just happening to stumble on overstock or some other legitimate reason for a discount.

Even professional photographers can fall victim to this and, speaking from personal experience, I have purchased equipment from well-known photographers in the past only to find the batteries they included were counterfeit. Those sellers — good, honest people — had no idea.

Canon’s legal strategy can at times seem overly aggressive but that approach isn’t without reason: this is a legitimate problem and if Canon doesn’t take action, buyers could end up faulting Canon for the poor performance of a counterfeit product.

Image credits: Amazon