I am sorry to hear that your Seller Account has been deactivated due to issues with Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Complaints.

Regarding the proof of authenticity, you as the manufacturer can issue invoices for your own products along with any trademark registration documents. This then needs to be accompanied with a Plan of Action.

You can prepare one with the help of my example, but definitely don’t copy full sentences and use your own words to talk about your specific situation. The purpose of the example is to show you the proper language, format and style in which you should present your appeal to Amazon:

Thanks Kika, I’ll write up a draft and post it here, hopefully someone can critique it before its sent.

Dear Amazon Performance Team,

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to appeal my seller accounts suspension due to intellectual property complaints.

I understand that Amazon takes intellectual property violation complaints very seriously and I would like to share with you my Plan of Action, in this I will explain what I have done to resolve the issue and address what I will do to prevent similar complaints in the future.

What happened:

-I received a copyright infringement complaint from a rights owner of xxxxxxxx; for the ASINS xxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxx

-The rights owner mistakenly reported my Amazon store, the images used on the listings are in the public domain and freely available for anyone to use, Which I will supply evidence of along with the POA.

-I believe this happened because the word xxxxxxxxx was also on the listing, which is who the rights owner represents.

What have I done to address the problem:

-I immediately removed all listings from my store which I received complaints, I will not relist them until I have strict permission from Amazon to do so.

-Removed any reference to the word xxxxxxxx in all of my listings.

- I have reviewed all the designs and keywords and all of my listings to ensure none of them infringe any copyright.

-I have contacted the rights owner to let them know the company has mistakenly reported my store, and have asked them to send a retraction notice to Amazon as soon as possible.

- I have carefully reviewed my entire Amazon account and inventory to make sure that all of my listings are fully compliant will of Amazons policies, paying extra attention to those regarding Intellectual Property and trademarks.

What I will do to prevent similar complaints in the future:

-Before listing on Amazon I will verify that my listings, designs and keyword’s to do violate anyone else’s Intellectual Property.

-I will work with those who are the subject to my designs, to make sure there are no issues before my products go up for sale.

-I will regularly read and re-read Amazons guidelines and policies, I will also diligently monitor any changes Amazon makes to its service in order to act quickly to implement them into my store.

Could anyone please check this over, too short too long? Also the POA page doesn’t allow me to add invoices, or supporting evidence, do i have to send this off separately?

Thanks, Lou

Could anyone help check this over? Thanks

Thanks for the help Kika, it’s much appreciated, I’ll hold fire on sending it for a day or two to see if anyone else has anymore input.

Thanks, lou.

Hi Future_Icons1,

After reviewing your post and plan of action you share with us, I wanted to assist you with some issues you have regarding the Intellectual Property Complaints.

Before you received the notification that complaints had been filed against you for infringement, were you aware of intellectual property and how it impacts you as a seller on Amazon?

I suggest reading the Intellectual Property Policy for Sellers page as it is extremely relevant to your current situation and will be of aide as you look to address the complaints.

You could include in your plan of action also the image of your image and the image on the listing of the rights owner who raised the complaint.

Aside from these considerations, I recommend you to read over the policy links you received along with the notification and show your understanding of them.

Can you provide these links or documentation where you check intellectual property? These links can be both internal Amazon policies but also external European websites as for example:

https://www.iprhelpdesk.eu/taxonomy/term/159
or
https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/faqs-on-copyright

There is also a help page/guidance for the Intellectual Property Policy on the Seller Central, with all information needed also regarding the appeal. Just put “Intellectual Property Policy” in the Help blank space to find it.

You mention in your root cause that infringement type is copyright, I would suggest you to address directly this issue instead of generic intellectual property issues.

Are you familiar with copyright?

Can you explain me the process how you check on intellectual properties?

As @Kika mentioned, when appealing these ASINs it is important to include any proof together with your plan of action.

Please be also aware that each plan of action should be drafted based on the issues that you are facing. Using someone else’s appeal could not only cause your listing not to be reactivated, but could prevent you from identifying the issues within your process that should be corrected.

Feel free to share your updated version here!
Hope this helps.

Hi Guys I as just wondering as well, I’ve just been re-read the deactivation message i received, which states:

> Why did this happen?
> We arrived at this decision because we were unable to verify information related to your seller account, or did not receive any new information regarding your listings or selling history.
**> **
> We’re here to help.
> If you need help better understanding what is causing this, please search for “Intellectual Property Violations” in Seller Central Help (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/201361070)

Im not sure whether this comment is in relation to the second report or if it has something to do with the failed appeal i made last time for the 7 ASINS that were reported.

I could add a couple more points regarding those ASINS, but the POA would largely address both issues together.

Im just thinking should i also specifically address those previous ASINS in the ‘What happened?’ section to? Id rather get this right first time.

Thanks, Lou

Hey guys, just recieved this back from Amazon, unfortunately it was unsuccessful.

Hello,

Thank you for your message. We cannot accept your appeal because it does not address the report we received from the rights owner. Please provide the following information so we can process your appeal:

authenticity (e.g., invoice, Order ID, licensing agreement, letter of authorization). It must clearly prove that your products do not infringe any intellectual property rights.

– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve copyright issues.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.
– Greater detail on why you believe an error has occurred.

Has your account been deactivated in error?
If you believe there has been an error, please tell us why. Your explanation should include the following information:

– How your listing(s) have not violated the brand’s intellectual property.

Where do I send this information?
Please submit this information by clicking the Appeal button on Account Health (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard).

What happens if I do not send the requested information?
If we do not receive the requested information within 17 days of the original suspension notification, your account will remain deactivated"

Not sure what to do now. The “Rights Owner” hasnt replied to my numerous emails, not do they have any other form of contact for me to get through to them.

Since we make and manufacture our shirts ourselves I dont have an invoice, order ID, license agreement etc either.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Lou.

Hi Guys would really appreciate some input here if anyone has any, so i submitted a different POA, built upon my previous POA, but with some additional steps, ive come to the realisation that selling on Amazon without invoices is a disaster waiting to happen, if someone else were to make a complaint again we’d be in the exact same predicament as we are now, except even further down the creek without a paddle. So we have changed our business strategy and have already began purchasing from official suppliers who can provide the correct documentation should it be needed.

Dear Amazon Performance Team,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to appeal my seller accounts suspension on the basis of Intellectual Property complaints.

I understand that Amazon takes intellectual property violation complaints very seriously and I would like to submit to you my Plan of Action, in this I will explain how the issue occurred, what I have done to address the issue and what I will do to prevent the issue arising again in the future.

_What happened: _

_-I received a copyright infringement complaint from a rights owner of xxxxxxxx’ for the ASINS xxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxx
-I failed to appeal or address these complaints against my account in a timely manner.
- As we employ third party graphic designers for our products, we failed to check the work they had done for us was fully compliant with copyright law.
-As we manufacture our items ourselves, I am unable to provide proof of authenticity for the items complained about.

What have I done to address the problem:

-Upon receiving the complaints I immediately removed and deleted all listings from my store and I will not re-list them until I have strict permission from Amazon to do so.
-I have removed any reference to the word ‘xxxxxxxxx’ in all of my listings.
-I have reviewed all the designs and keywords and all of my listings to ensure none of them infringe any copyright.
- I have removed all designs that are not officially authorised by brand rights owners.
- I have carefully reviewed my entire Amazon account and inventory to make sure that all of my listings are fully compliant with all of Amazons policies, paying extra attention to those regarding Copyright and Intellectual Property.
- I have educated myself on the law regarding copyright and Intellectual Property, giving myself greater understanding of how it works, as not to fall foul of it again in the future. I have gained this information from visiting the European IP Helpdesk:
http://www.iprhelpdesk.eu/

What I will do to prevent similar complaints in the future:

-Before listing on Amazon I will verify that my listings, designs and keyword’s do not violate anyone else’s copyright. I will do this by referencing the European union Intellectual Property Office, link which have been provided here:
http://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/
-I will not create, or list against any listings that violate Amazons guidelines regarding Intellectual Property.
-We will no longer work with external freelancers and strictly work with official suppliers instead.
- I will purchase Rights/Brand Approval from rights owners and let them know our Amazon store name, to ensure there can be no confusion about the legitimacy of our products.
-From now on we will only purchase our items from legitimate manufacturers or official brand rights owners.
-I will regularly read and re-read Amazons guidelines and policies, I will also diligently monitor any changes Amazon makes to its service in order to act quickly to implement them into my store.

I believe this plan addresses all of the issues that have arisen, and I hope I will be able to continue trading on Amazon.

Sincerely,

Yesterday we received this reply. Which is actually great since it actually looks as if its been written by a human.

Hello,

Thank you for submitting your plan of action. We reviewed your appeal and determined that the corrective action items you have listed have not been implemented. Please make sure all corrective actions have been completed to be in compliance with your plan of action:

– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve COPYRIGHT infringement issues.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.
– Greater detail on why you believe an error has occurred.

I may be looking on the positive side, but it looks to me as if they’re willing to accept my POA, that i just need to implement the strategy i have given them. Since ive told Amazon i am changing our approach to business, im thinking they want me to delete my entire inventory and then start a fresh?

**If anyone has anything they like to chip in id be very grateful, **

Thanks, Lou.