Listing removed due to use of trademark word in title
Dear colleagues,
I would like to get back to you as my last resort to seek help as the replies I am getting from Amazon are not helping at all.
So I have been selling in the home and kitchen category since 2019. I own my own trademark and I am brand registered in UK.
At the moment, one of the most famous brands in Amazon UK “T*****” reported my listing because I used their name in my title which is true (it was really unintentional as the listings are translated by Amazon from German to English when I create international listings and I thought that that word is generic and multiple other sellers at this moment use the same word in their title).
This is the title: (My brand name) Stainless Steel Thermos Flask 500ml for Coffee or Tea Double-Wall Insulated Flask Leak-Proof with Drinking Cup.
1- I contacted the rights owner and explained what happened and that the use of the term in the title was in its generic dictionary meaning.
2- I contacted Amazon multiple times explaining first, that this was unintentional, and I am ready to remove or change the disputed word from my title.
3- I searched and drafted/tailored a POA and submitted to Amazon. However, each time I get an automatic answer asking me to upload:
- A letter of authorization (LOA) or licensing agreement (LA) from the rights owner …
- An invoice to indicate that your products are original and are not …
- A retraction from the rights owner to be sent to Amazon directly…
a- As I sell my own brand, I cannot provide LOA from the “T*****” brand because I dont sell their products.
b- I cannot provide an invoice from “T*****” as I dont buy from them and I dont resell their products. However, I did upload my own invoice from my supplier for this product but of course I still get the same automatic reply to upload this and that.
c- I dont think I will ever receive a retraction letter because of obvious reasons…
Here below is the first email I received from Amazon regarding the complaint and after you will find my POA, if somebody can direct me in the right direction please?
Email from Amazon:
We removed some of your listings because we received a report from a rights owner that they may infringe the rights owner’s trademark. The rights owner communication about the alleged infringement and the listings we removed are at the bottom of this message.
Why did this happen?
We received a report from a rights owner alleging that one or more of your listings may be infringing the intellectual property rights of others. Listing content infringing on the intellectual property of others is against our policies.
We’re here to help.
If you need help understanding how you may have infringed the above trademark, please see the Amazon Intellectual Property policy (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/external/201361070), or search for “Intellectual Property Policy” in Seller Central Help.
How do I reactivate my listing?
Please provide one of the following to reactivate your listing:
– An invoice, a valid Order ID, or letter of authorization from the manufacturer or Rights Owner demonstrating that your use of the trademark is lawful. External links are not accepted. For security reasons, we only accept attachments in the following file formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .pjpeg, .gif, .png, .tiff.
How do I submit this information?
Go to Received Intellectual Property Complaints under the Product Policy Compliance section in account health (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_mpa) and locate the deactivation record for this product listing. Click on the Appeal button next to the listing deactivation record to submit information necessary to reactivate your listing.
Have your listings been removed in error?
If you think that the rights owner has made an error in sending the notice, please reach out to the rights owner and ask them to submit a retraction of this notice. We may only accept retractions that the rights owner submits to us directly. We do not accept forwarded or attached retractions.
These are the rights owner’s contact details:
–T******* e-commerce team
–
mailto:legal@******.com
For any other reason, please explain to us why you were warned in error so that we can investigate the case.
If you do not provide the information within 60 days, you will receive a request to remove the inventory associated with these listing per our removal policy (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/202000820). Failure to address this request can lead to destruction of your inventory.
Rights owner communication: T***** L.L.C. owns several applicable UK trademark registrations for the mark T******, including UK00007***** (T******* mark for “insulated containers and bottles… included in Class 21”), UK000002****** (T******* mark for “Bottles, flasks and containers; all made predominately of ordinary metal.”, plus EU Registration number 860**** for the design mark T******* for “Bottles, flasks and containers”. The product title and description for the listed ASIN uses the term T******* in violation of our registered trademark rights.
ASIN: B0**********
Infringement type: Trademark (Product Detail Page, Product Packaging, Word Mark, Logo & Design)
Trademark number: UK0000076*******
Complaint ID: 76************
My POA:
Dear Amazon Seller Support Team.
Thank you for providing us the opportunity to appeal our Asin account’s suspension due to intellectual property complaints on ASIN B085*******.
We understand that Amazon takes complaints about violations of intellectual property rights of brands or rights owners very seriously and we would like to share with you our Plan of Action in which we explain what we have done to resolve the issue and what we will do to prevent similar complaints in the future.
What Happened?
We received a trademark infringement from the Rights Owner “T******“ for ASIN B085******* under Complaint ID: 7670425**** because we used the term “T******” in the title of our listing.
It is pertinent to bring to your attention that the word / trademark “T******” that we used in our listing title which we thought it was a general term and not Trademark Protected as it is used by many other brands on Amazon.co.uk. However, it turned out that we were wrong about this.
We strongly believe that we had no malicious intention behind this act and we confirm that we made no financial gain from this trademark nor any intention to make any financial gain using this trademark. We have our own European trademark “my brand” which we always use in our titles.
What we have done to address this Problem:
• We have immediately contacted Amazon to clarify the situation and we have already sent an apology and explanation email to the rights owner.
• Furthermore, we have decided to replace the word T****** by THERMO but we are unable to change this as our listing is removed.
What we will do to prevent similar complaints in the future.
• The listing title which has the word “T*****” will be edited and the word replaced once we have access to the listing.
• All our products listed in Amazon.co.uk have been checked to make sure no trademarked word is used.
We present a humble request and an apology regarding the act we had done purely unintentionally and mistakenly. We further state, no such kind of behavior will be repeated in future.
Thank you for taking the time to review my appeal and I am looking forward to continuing selling on Amazon.
Sincerely,
Kind regards,
Lahbib
52 replies
Seller_ejwc84JNL5Uk6
Not good if the offending word is still currently on your listing!!
I’m afraid unless the rights owner sends a letter of retraction directly to Amazon then you can’t get your listing back. Nothing else will work.
Seller_VJFloi7Cs0iaR
I’m off to write a new listing for
- Rola Cola 500ml bottle of Coke
- Daves Nachos Jumbo bag of Doritos cheese flavour
- Chocotastic Big Bar of Dairy Milk Chocolate
I sincerely wish you luck, but you haven’t got a leg to stand on, due diligence is part of business, I would eat my own shoes if you did this unintentionally.
Whilst it is not quite what counterfeiting amounts to, ‘Passing off’ Is just as bad in Amazon’s eyes
Many sellers will get away with piggy backing big brands success for a while, but it eventually catches up with them all.
Brands that are at the top are there for a reason, they spend a massive amount of their turnover on R+D and Advertising, which they don’t want to be giving the fruits of away to cheap generic copy products.
Seller_gBnaMhUt1Nfwm
Just to add my own point of view here - I think what the op is trying to say is this was an easy mistake to make as “thermos” is also a generic word for a flask.
Most common dictionaries define “thermos” this way:
Definition of thermos
: a container (such as a bottle or jar) with a vacuum between an inner and outer wall used to keep material and especially liquids either hot or cold for considerable periods (Taken from Merriam-Webster.com)
Amazon needs to take some responsibility for this as they translated the listing from German to English. And in this case, they should allow this seller access to change their title. (I say should as we all know this is unlikely to happen.)
Plus it sounds like the op is not familiar with the Thermos brand.
Seller_YIlukjr6lz9d7
What I am trying to argue here, is that I believed that “thermos” is actually a word/noun which meant a vacuum flask. Of course I know the thermos brand. But me including it in the title has nothing to do with the brand, but with the meaning.
My listing which actually translated by Amazon automatically from German to English. The German word was Thermoskanne.
Seller_tRuvBEHDedp4q
This reminds me of another case…
‘Onesie’ is trademarked so shouldn’t be used in a title - yet we all refer to the all-in-one suits as onesies.
There are a lot of examples of people using the term - but the trademark owner could at any time get the listing pulled.
So although I agree that it is ridiculous that a common term can be trademarked - it is what it is and there is no point in fighting it.
Seller_BS5lg2keRs2QO
I suppose hoover is one of the most commonly used words that is actually a brand name. Amazon sells lots of vacuum cleaners, but very few of them are Hoovers…
Although i guess google maybe more common a word that is also a brand.
Seller_mjPRP7HtFpwrH
I sell some items with the words Apple Pie printed on them and have had no end of trouble with these listings being removed. I eventually got them all reinstated as this is obviously nothing to do with anyone’s brand name (ill let you guess who took exception to it).
Soon after they were reinstated I ended all the listings as its not worth going through it all again at a future date.
I completely understand why companies look to protect their property of course but this one was ridiculous.
Seller_zSgC5zKFELg5A
Hello @Marshall_e-shop,
Nehal here to assist you with your concerns.
I understand from your post that your ASIN has been taken down due to violation of Intellectual Property.
In such complaints, it is asked to provide the below information:
- A letter of authorization (LOA) or licensing agreement (LA) from the rights owner …
- An invoice to indicate that your products are original and are not …
- A retraction from the rights owner to be sent to Amazon directly…
But we observed from above post that you have accepted your mistake and agreed to the complaints and provided plan of affection as well mentioning the same.
We will appreciate inputs from @Shrewsbury_Marine_S1 and @The_Little_Shop. We also recommend you to follow the same.
Kindly go through the intellectual property policy through the link for future reference:
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201361070
Feel free to reach out to us for further assistance!
Regards,
Nehal
Seller_OwBkqWbqvkPpl
Would it help if you use a Small T in thermos as in not a title.? In correct english that is what it should be. Although I doubt Amazon are that good at Spotting things like that. I had an email saying "If you have any further issues please RIGHT to me!!!
Seller_3GyNElrbg48mk
Why not name it “Stanley Vacuum Flask” search bots will link to similar products like “Thermos Flask”
