Intellectual Property Complaint
Hello.
Maybe someone could help with advice and probably this topic will be useful for other sellers.
Here is my situation:
in 05.09/2019. I received a policy warning from Amazon about design right infringement complaint. So Amazon remove my offer with ASIN B0761RHHP2 (it is Xiaomi toothbrush SOOCAS), because it violate design right with number DM / 076580.
In 11.09.2019. I received a policy warning from Amazon about design right infringement complaint from ipetkovska@react.org for the ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH (all are Xiaomi toothbrushes SOOCAS).
Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to it because I thought it would be just warnings.
In 20.09.2019. Amazon suspended my account, because i did not answer on Amazon call and i did not do anything with these listings and continue to offer these products. So Amazon inform me, that if I want to sell on Amazon, i need to send them POA.
So first i send email to complainant ipetkovska@react.org and she answer, that Xiaomi violate intellectual property for the brand Philips. She send to me some Polish court decision, where polish court confirms, that Xiaomi violate Philips rights on intellectual property, because Xiaomi toothbrush SOOCAS copy design of Philips toothbrush SONICARE. So the polish court decide that Xiaomi cannot sell their toothbrush SOOCAS. The most interesting thing, that Xiaomi did not inform my supplier about that polish court decision and did not withdraw their products toothbrush SOOCAS from supplier.
After that, i send invoice and authorization letter to Amazon. But it was not enough.
Amazon send me the email:
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:
– Proof of product authenticity .
– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve policy violation issues.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.
– Greater detail on why you believe an error has occurred.
So i send them more details (take a lot of things from this forum):
Proof of product with authenticity:
- proof of product with ASIN B0761RHHP2 authenticity - invoice and authorization letter in attachment.
- proof of product with ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH authenticity - authorization letter of Xiaomi products in attachment.
What happened?
In 05.09.2019. I received a policy warning from Amazon about design right infringement complaint from ipetkovska@react.org for the ASIN B0761RHHP2.
In 11.09.2019. I received a policy warning from Amazon about design right infringement complaint from ipetkovska@react.org for the ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH.
In 20.09.2019. Amazon suspended my account, because Amazon cannot reach me by phone to talk with me about my account and also i’ve got second warning about policy violation.
The complainant ipetkovska@react.org (Iva Petkovska) represent company Koninklijke Philips N.V. So Iva Petkovska had suspected that some products in my listings violate intellectual property for the brand Philips. I have contacted with Iva Petkovska and get to know, that polish court make a decision, where polish court confirms, that Xiaomi violate Philips rights on intellectual property, because Xiaomi toothbrush SOOCAS copy design of Philips toothbrush SONICARE. So the polish court decide that Xiaomi cannot sell their toothbrush SOOCAS.
The toothbrush SOOCAS I have been selling have been purchased from official XIAOMI distributor as you can see in invoice in attachment. So i assure you that i did not known about that trial between Xiaomi and Philips in Poland. Apparently Xiaomi did not inform my distributor about this case and did not withdraw their products toothbrush SOOCAS from distributor.
What have I done to address this problem?
• I have removed all listings for the ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH, B00KXULAV0 and all other products, what could violate some intellectual property.
I have contacted with Iva Petkovska and send them invoice and authorization letter, and requested for them to send a retraction notice to Amazon.
I have contacted with my distributor to inform them about polish court decision meaned above.
What will I do to prevent similar complaints occurring in the future?
• Before listing any product on Amazon, I will ensure that the product does not violate anyone’s intellectual property, trademark, copyright or patent. I create my own Black list, where i will put all products with ASIN, what violate some policy.
• I will ensure that products are sourced directly from manufacturers or distributers and that they have the rights to sell the product in question. Also, I will monitor all changes to the Amazon’s policies that could affect my business.
After that i receive a new email from Amazon:
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:
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve Design Right infringement issues.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.
As i understand from Amazon email, i need to explain just last two things:
So i wrote to Amazon:
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve Design Right infringement issues.
I would like to inform you, that i have never sold any units with ASIN B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2. Look in the screenshots of the sales history in attachment.
I have removed all listings for the ASIN B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2 and all other products, what could violate some intellectual property (screenshot in attachment). I have contacted with complainant Iva Petkovska (ipetkovska@react.org) and send them invoice and authorization letter, and requested for them to send a retraction notice to Amazon. I have contacted with my distributor to inform them about polish court decision, and i will never buy these products from distributor, what violate intellectual property.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.
• Before listing any product on Amazon, I will ensure that the product does not violate anyone’s intellectual property, trademark, copyright or patent. I create my own Black list, where i will put all products with ASIN, what violate some policy and will not trade them.
• I will ensure that products are sourced directly from manufacturers or distributers and that they have the rights to sell the product in question. Also, I will monitor all changes to the Amazon’s policies that could affect my business.
After that Amazon send me the email:
Dear Customer,
We are still looking into your account. We will send you an email once the review is complete.
I thought, that maybe there is ahope to reinstate, but today i receive the email:
Hello,
We reviewed your account and the information you provided, and we have decided that you may not sell on Amazon.
So i don’t know what to do. I call to complainant ipetkovska@react.org and explain to her all situation. But she said, that she will not withdraw her complain. Because accept Amazon policy regarding the suspension/penalization of sellers/accounts who offer infringing listings.
Any idea what should i do next?
Seller_EJIX7rqDNQJi2
I am sorry, however the way how you ignored all the Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Complaints is really irresponsible, just like failing to answer the pre-suspension phone call giving you an option to prevent account deactivation.
Sellers on Amazon need to promptly manage their accounts and address any issues instead of ignoring them.
From the right owner’s e-mail address I can tell that this particular rights owner is enrolled in the world’s Anti-Counterfeiting Network, which is a very trusted and respected organization and what you received were valid complaints.
Also, I have checked your Plan of Action and I could see that it didn’t properly address the entire issue or include any effective steps and actions.
At this point, you would need to delete your entire inventory, prepare a very good Plan of Action and provide Amazon valid invoices from you new suppliers showing that from now on, you will be only selling authentic items which don’t infringe on anyone’s intellectual property rights.
Seller_NekTsJXWlJFw5
Thank You Kika for Your reply.
Could You please give some advice what kind of effective steps and actions there could be? Cause as far as i could imagine, i could just delete listings, and promise not to sell these products again and check all products in the future before put them in listings.
And about invoices - should i get invoice for this ASIN, which is blocked or for any other authentic item which don’t infringe on anyone’s intellectual property rights?
Also i send an email to Philips, maybe they could help.
Any help from you will be appreciated.
Seller_NekTsJXWlJFw5
Thank You very much.
Will try to send new POA with invoices and will inform You about results.
Seller_CnaYeZGFSV6mj
Hello @Solution_4YOU ,
You may have already submitted your appeal, but I would still like to provide some suggestions on improving your appeal; if needed.
As @Kika mentioned, you want to address any warnings you receive from us, as any defects on your account can have a negative impact on your account. The sooner, the better.
In regards to your appeal, some things you want to think about and include are: what is your process for ensuring that you have the authorization from the brand rights owner to sell those items on our site? Before listing any item in the future, what help pages will you use to assist you in remaining compliant with our policies? What outside resources can you use to track down the rights owner and acquire their authorization? How will you ensure that your supplier has the authorization as well? What tools will you utilize to ensure you are not violating anyone’s intellectual property, trademark, copyright, or patent?
While not selling those items may seem like a reason to stop the inquisition, it is not valid as listing the item is the violation itself. So you should explain why the item was listed, delete the listing while in the appeals process, and provide proof of authorization. How often will you check your listings to ensure they remain compliant?
Overall, when you compose your plan of action, include your connection to those asins and any other relevant details regarding the root cause of the complaint, and insert some outside-of-the-box thinking that can help you prevent the receipt of these complaints again.
I hope I provided some topics to think about and improve your appeal.
Best,
Pax
Seller_NekTsJXWlJFw5
Hello guys,
Where is the best to send this renewed plan of action - to managingdirector, to notice dispute or through performance notification?
Seller_NekTsJXWlJFw5
Here is my renewed plan of action.
Dear Amazon.
First I would like to inform You, that im selling on Amazon through API, which mean that with special software i get product listings from supplier and put it in Amazon.
Proof of product with authenticity:
- proof of product with ASIN B0761RHHP2 authenticity - invoice and authorization letter in attachment.
- proof of product with ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH authenticity - authorization letter in attachment.
What happened?
In 05.09.2019. I received a policy warning from Amazon about design right infringement complaint from ipetkovska@react.org for the ASIN B0761RHHP2.
As i mean in the beginning, im selling in Amazon through API. So, when i receive first warning about violation, i check this ASIN and identify, that i get this product from distributor XXX. To avoid this problem, i put this ASIN B0761RHHP2 in my application Black list. This means that i will never get this product in Amazon listings from distributor XXX. After few days i’ve got product listings from new distributor ZZZ and unfortunately they got the same infringed product. I did not knew that and when i put listings from new supplier to Amazon, i receive new warning in 11.09.2019.
In 11.09.2019. I received a policy warning from Amazon about design right infringement complaint from ipetkovska@react.org for the ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH.
In 20.09.2019. Amazon suspended my account, because Amazon cannot reach me by phone to talk with me about my account and also i did not remove listings with infringed products from second warning.
I failed to properly address these issues in a professional and timely manner.
What have I done to address this problem?
I have removed all listings for the ASIN B07V2YGFPC, B07MKRQPZJ, B07MKQYTTL, B07PDGSC8L, B07TLL9CY7, B07JDXNBCN, B07TGT2CKL, B0761RHHP2, B07VK39KVH, B00KXULAV0 and all other products, what could violate some intellectual property. Also I improve my software appiecation. Now it will check all products EAN and ASIN to ensure that the product does not violate anyone’s intellectual property, trademark, copyright or patent, before put them in Amazon.
Also I have contacted with complainant ipetkovska@react.org and send them invoice and authorization letter, and requested for them to send a retraction notice to Amazon.
As well I have contacted with my distributors to inform them about infringed products.
Also I shipped all remaining and pending orders and all customer messages have been answered as well.
What will I do to prevent similar complaints occurring in the future?
Before listing any product on Amazon, I will ensure that the product does not violate anyone’s intellectual property, trademark, copyright or patent. For this i hire additional worker, who will check all Amazon policies and warnings on regular basis every day.
Resources what i will use to prevent this problem in the future:
Amazon Intellectual Property Policy
https://sellercentral.amazon.fr/gp/help/external/201361070?language=en_US
Category, Product and Content Restrictions
https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/help.html?itemID=201743940&language=en-GB&ref=mpbc_3216801_cont_201743940
To identify any intellectual property, i will use internet resources: World intellectual property organization homepage (WIPO).
I will ensure that products are sourced directly from manufacturers or distributers and that they have the rights to sell the product in question. Also, I will monitor all changes to the Amazon’s policies that could affect my business.
I believe this plan sufficiently addresses the issue and I hope that I will be able to continue selling on Amazon.
Sincerely
Seller_NekTsJXWlJFw5
Kika, Pax_Amazon would be nice to know your opinion.
Seller_NekTsJXWlJFw5
So if Xiaomi product violate design rights on Philips toothbrush Sonicare, then i need the invoice of this Philips toothbrush? Or i need for both? Cause i’ve got both.
