Project Zero for Indian Brands: Eligibility, Self-Service Removals and the Rules You Must Keep

Amazon Project Zero lets an eligible brand remove counterfeit listings from Amazon.in itself, instead of reporting them and waiting. You cannot apply directly: Amazon invites brands that hold a Brand Registry account as rights owner of a registered trademark and have used Report a Violation in the last six months with at least a 90% acceptance rate. To keep access you must stay at 99% accuracy or better. This guide is current as of 9 November 2026.

What is Amazon Project Zero?

Project Zero combines three things, according to Amazon's India announcement:

• Automated protections: Amazon's machine learning scans listing updates to flag suspicious listings.
• A self-service counterfeit removal tool: brands remove listings directly, and those removals also train the automated protections.
• Product serialisation: a unique code applied during manufacturing so Amazon can check each purchase of enrolled products. It is optional.

Amazon's India announcement page does not show a date in the text we could read. News coverage places the India launch in November 2019, but we have not confirmed that from Amazon's own page.

Who is eligible for Project Zero in India?

Amazon's India page lists these conditions:

1. A Brand Registry account where you are the rights owner of a registered trademark.
2. Use of Report a Violation within the last six months, with at least a 90% acceptance rate on those reports.
3. A record of using Brand Registry in line with Amazon's policies, plus "additional criteria" Amazon reviews.

If you qualify, you are invited automatically. There is no public application form on that page. Access is given per country store where your brand has an active registered trademark. If you have not enrolled in Brand Registry yet, start with Amazon Brand Registry India.

How do you get invited?

You cannot buy or request your way in on the page we read. What helps:

1. Get your trademark registered in India and enrol it in Brand Registry as rights owner.
2. Use Report a Violation for genuine counterfeits, with clear evidence such as a test-buy photo and the trademark on the product or packaging.
3. Keep your accepted rate at 90% or higher. Do not report things that are not counterfeits (a competitor's similar design, a price complaint).
4. Wait for the invitation. Amazon decides when you meet all criteria.

Amazon's old announcement says brands from "small and emerging entrepreneurs to large multi-national brands" are invited. We found no minimum sales or brand size on Amazon's pages.

How does the self-service removal work?

Open it from Brand Registry under Protect, then Project Zero. Then:

1. Search for the listing you suspect.
2. Amazon recommends a test buy to confirm the item is counterfeit before you remove it.
3. After you confirm, remove a single offer or the entire product listing.
4. Each seller linked to the removal receives a notice of complaint.
5. Track results under Monitor, then Submission history.

The page lists required training at enrolment and ongoing monitoring of how brands use the tool.

What are the limits and what loses you access?

• Counterfeit means a registered or very similar trademark used on the product, packaging or detail page to suggest it is genuine.
• You must maintain an accuracy rate of at least 99%.
• Other IP issues, such as design or copyright claims, go through Report a Violation or the legal route. Take legal advice for those.

For example, a seller listing a genuine unit of your product through an unauthorised channel is a resale question, not a counterfeit. Do not remove it with Project Zero. If you remove a genuine item by mistake, your accuracy rate falls.

What does 99% accuracy mean in practice?

Amazon's page gives the threshold but not how it counts. We have not confirmed whether removals are scored per offer, per listing or per period. As an illustration only, if a brand made 200 removals and 3 were wrong, that is 98.5% accurate, below 99%. The safe reading is simple: act only when a test buy or clear evidence shows a counterfeit, and when you are unsure, use Report a Violation instead of removing the listing yourself. Train every person on your team who can use the tool, because one careless removal affects the whole brand account.

Does Project Zero need Transparency serialisation?

No. Serialisation is optional, but Amazon says combining it with Project Zero gives the best results. Brands pay for serialisation codes, with volume discounts possible, while the self-service tool and automated protections are free for enrolled brands. Read Amazon Transparency for Indian brands for codes, steps and the India limit on code type.

What else does Amazon do against counterfeits in India?

Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit, launched in June 2020, is expanding in India to work more closely with local law enforcement; its director cited investigations with the CBI and, in 2025, more than 70 raids with partners. That is a news report, dated 21 August 2026. Details are in our note on the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit.

What should you do if you are not invited yet?

Project Zero is not the only route. Until you are invited, use Report a Violation inside Brand Registry, the standard reporting tool. A clean record there is also part of what Amazon looks at for Project Zero. Practical habits:

• Keep a folder per ASIN: your trademark certificate, product photos from every angle, packaging, batch codes and your own invoice, so you can show what genuine looks like.
• Buy a suspect unit before reporting. Photograph the parcel, the product and the label, and note what differs from yours (print quality, missing mark, wrong batch code).
• Report only counterfeits where your trademark is misused. Send other complaints, such as copied images, through the correct claim type.
• Make your own listing hard to copy: complete brand fields, consistent GTINs and good images, as covered in Amazon Brand Registry India.
• Watch for sellers undercutting you by a wide margin on your own ASIN. That is often the first sign of fakes or grey stock.

Counterfeiting also overlaps with account health. If your own listing is flagged, the platform has its own process; read Amazon account suspension reasons in India. Blooprint does not offer account reinstatement.

What is not confirmed?

• Whether any minimum brand size, sales or category rule applies in India.
• How quickly Amazon invites a brand that meets the criteria.
• Whether the 90% and 99% thresholds differ by country. Amazon's India page and its Australian page show the same figures.

FAQ

Is Project Zero free? Yes for the self-service removal tool and automated protections once you are enrolled. Serialisation through Transparency is a paid, optional extra, and Amazon says volume discounts may apply.

Can I apply for Project Zero in India? Amazon's page does not show an application form. It says brands that meet its criteria are invited automatically. Meet the Brand Registry and Report a Violation requirements and keep your reporting accurate.

What accuracy rate do I need? At least 90% acceptance on Report a Violation reports in the last six months to be considered, and at least 99% accuracy on removals to keep access.

Can I use Project Zero against a reseller selling genuine goods? No. The tool is only for counterfeit listings. A genuine product sold by an unauthorised seller is a different problem, handled through your distribution terms, Brand Registry reports or legal advice.

Do I need a registered trademark? Yes. Amazon requires an active registered trademark and the rights owner role in Brand Registry. A pending application is not mentioned on the page, so confirm in Brand Registry whether it is accepted.

Does Project Zero work on Flipkart or Meesho? No. It is Amazon's programme and covers Amazon stores. Other marketplaces have their own brand-protection routes, which we have not covered here.

Next step

Make sure your trademark, Brand Registry and catalogue are clean first, then build up accurate violation reports. If you want help with the account side, Blooprint's Amazon account management team handles Brand Registry-ready catalogues; it does not offer account reinstatement.