Our brand name stolen and now claiming our listings as theirs
Hi,
we have been selling on amazon for almost 10 years under our own brand name. when we registered with amazon trademark registration was not necessary at that time. so we got our brand name approved and we are selling since then without any issues.
just yesterday someone hijacked our listing and started selling on it.i got a message from that seller that this is their brand name now registered with trademark and with amazon. and they will report us to and amazon will delete all of our listings because we are selling under their brand name.
its so frustrating and i dont know what to do. that seller done it delibertly because he copied all of our designs and selling almost same products like us and now targeting our top performing products and claiming its his listings.
amazon support tells us to report a violation but i dont know where we stand now as he is claiming our brand name as his now.
can anyone advice us what to do in this situation. its just feel so unfair to give up all of our hard work to someone else just like that.feeling so helpless at this point.
98 replies
Seller_9vYzAspLN0bEC
First you will need to dispute the brand with trademark.
Is your brand already registered with UK trademark?
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
It may not have been necessary for Amazon, but legally if you don’t have a trademark you are going to have trouble. Has the brand trademark been awarded to someone else now?
Seller_ZQyopdiwkUHOZ
Have you checked to see if they have actually registered the Trademark? I’m suspicious. Someone that unscrupulous would surely have just gotten you kicked off if they could, wouldn’t they?
It takes a long time for a Trademark to become active and Brand Registry needs a valid Trademark so it would be a long term plan they’ve hatched and at expense to buy the Trademark.
Check their claim about the Trademark. Contact Amazon’s Brand Registry team and check if such a brand name has been registered with them. Also, check the listings in question and make sure they haven’t changed the brand on the listing to something they already owned. It’s not unheard of or listings to be hijacked in such a manner even though it should rightly be impossible.
Seller_wqciCXuQbNS4p
Do you have your own website, that features the trademarked name within the URL? If so, then that will assist in any case with the IPO.
Unfortunately, without that, I think that you’re going to struggle with this.
Seller_YDtQChf7iSyyu
This is what I get from the IPO Intellectual Property Office during the registration process.
Opposition Period
There is now an initial 2 month period in which anybody may make observations on the
trade mark’s acceptance or oppose its registration. This is called the opposition period
(Currently, about 5% of all applications published are opposed).
The opposition period begins immediately after the date of the publication. The end of the
opposition period date is xx/xx/xxxx. However, the opposition period may be extended to
3 months if a third party files an electronic form TM7a ‘Notice of threatened opposition’
before the end of opposition date. We will tell you if we receive a TM7a.
Registration Certificate
If nobody opposes your mark, it will become registered approximately 2 weeks after the
opposition period ends. This is called the registration date. On the registration date we
will send a Registration Certificate by post to your address for service. You can receive
an email notification of registration by using our free online eAlerts service.
Seller_uZmYgk2Q734Ed
A few more things to take note of:
-
you will have a better case if your brand name is a unique word (that does not exist in the dictionary), and not just a mashup of several common words
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it will be helpful if you have solid evidence of online presence before July 2022, especially if it is very clear that the online presence has a solid UK audience. Online reviews from UK customers that is publicly displayed and dated will be helpful. If you have publications in circulation (for e.g. old catalogues), I think that will be helpful as well. All these are to show that your trademark though is not registered, is actually used in trades.
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you will need to set aside a decent budget as this will take time and money to get till the end. Regarding the Amazon Brand Registry, your solicitor can issue a legal letter to Amazon Legal team to clarify with them your situation, and notify them that you have already initiated the legal procedure to challenge the trademark, and you are the rightful owner instead. This may help you to restore your status in the brand registry, but no promise as I have never gone through this, and I have never hear another case like this so far (though it was always something I feared, especially in smaller markets that I have not registered my trademarks yet).
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at the end of the day, always understand that bullies exist everywhere and we just need to pick our battles, and stand firm if you decide to fight this. Start consulting some solicitors first and hear what they can offer. Then you can have a better understanding of the legal implications of your situation and your different ways forward, and you can then make a decision that you think is best for yourself.
I wish you all the best of luck.
Seller_9vYzAspLN0bEC
I am not sure of what you sell however on practical side you need to look into:
How much and how long would it cost to get your brand name back?
Is it cheaper to start again with registered brand name?
How many hours of work you need to spend on paperwork while your business is not making money?
The outcome is also not guaranteed, you may loss on technical issues.
It’s a business take the action on what works best for your business.
Seller_oBcQRxSTugXKz
Amazon Shouldnt be allowing this you should take it up with them in the first instance probably. Some weird people out there who would do that to you, sorry youve gone through that.
Seller_2Su3bcJXQR0sO
Do you still have control of the listing? are yous PL listings?
Seller_L2sUqtz6CbLSS
If you created the listings, would Amazon now allow you to change the Brand for the ASIN’s so you can at least protect those listings and trademark another Brand that you can use as the new Brand on your listings?
