Account Deactivated due to IP Violations
Hi,
My account has been deactivated for the last 3 weeks due to IP Violation. I have submitted an appeal with a plan of action and invoice. The last plan of action is as follows which was rejected. Can anyone help me with a plan of action, please?
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Root cause of the infringement:
The reason for the account deactivation is the Intellectual Property rights of others violation. I applied to sell ASIN B09MQNYXZN of the LK brand which was already listed product on Amazon. It didn’t ask for a receipt of the permission at first, hence I listed that product on my Selling Account. At that time, I thought it is not required for that specific product. Later, I got a message not to sell that product and we stop selling the product. After having a conversation with the seller, I removed the listing and came to know that I am not allowed to sell that product. The root cause is- the listing of other’s products without knowing all about the policy on IP Violations. -
The action I have taken to resolve the complaint:
As soon as the original seller contacted me, I have closed the listing. Knowing about the policy I have completely removed the listing from my account and apologized to the seller as well. I have attached the screenshot of the closed listing below. As a director of the company, I apologized to amazon for the problem we have caused. -
Steps to prevent infringement going forward
As a first step to prevent infringement going forward, I have removed the listing from my selling account. On behalf of the SNS STORE UK I apologized to the Amazon team and the seller for the mistake we have done. To prevent infringement going forward I have submitted an appeal to the Amazon Health Team and the seller as well stating the actual cause and precautions I will be following in the future
• Now onwards I won’t be listing any products of others. I have gone thoroughly, into the policy to list the products already listed on Amazon or new products. Now I came to know that I can’t sell other products without their permission, and they can complain to us if I do. Doing so My account could be deactivated and may be banned from selling if I repeat the violation. Following the reference on listing policy violations https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G20 ). Now I am aware that being a brand owner I can’t sell other brand products without their permission.
• I have gone through all the policies on listing the product not listed on Amazon and not listed on Amazon.
On 12/13th March, with the help of seller university, we have gone through several videos on product listing and policy( https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/learn/courses?moduleId=def868a8-ec55-4734-b15d-c425d6c31598&ref_=su_home_pm&modLanguage=English).
• During the period we got the information on the Basics of the product listing from Basics 1.1 to 1.4. During that, we came to have a better understanding of Listing basics, pre-listing preparations, and we had quality self-examinations. Now I am fully aware of the listing policy and listing procedure.
• Another training was on Policy Violations. Following all the Amazon Intellectual Property Policy https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201361070 and IP violations policy https://sellercentraleurope.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G202004770. On these topics, now we have a better understanding of Copyrights, trademarks, designs, and especially what to do if your account receives a warning or suspension. As our issue was like the suspension, I had to have a deep understanding of Intellectual Property violations. Under any circumstances we shouldn’t violate the brand’s trademark, designs, patent (the right to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing the invention into the country), copyright. As suggested there I am following that guideline and working on this account suspension. Now, I am competent on a policy that violates listing, policy compliance, and action that affects account health. Also, it was a revision for me on the trademark and design as I had already gone through those things during the brand registry as well.
• Following all those guidelines and lessons we have checked in our account and can confirm that we haven’t got any product that doesn’t comply with Amazon policy on listing products. -
How we comply with the policy now and in the future:
I am the Brand Registered on Amazon and Trademark Registered as well. I won’t be listing and selling other’s products on Amazon. I will be selling only products on my trademark. Also, before I had a Consultant from Amazon, Mr. Solanki who used to guide me. As soon as my Account is reactivated, I will ask for another consultant so that I could seek help in the future. I will be contacting the Amazon support team via chat and phone as well if I need any help and if I got any confusion in the future. For listing products, advertisement, and brand promotion I will be seeking Amazon’s help if needed in the future. Besides that, I will be doing the following in the future to improve my account health.
Now All the products in our account are within the policy (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/external/201361070).
To prevent the suspension and to improve account health in future-
o Now onwards, I will be the only one to control the account on listing new products and will only do according to the policy.
o I will constantly monitor Account Health under the Performance Tab. It will give me a notification of any policy changes in the future as well as it will help me with all the policies and guidelines to follow and make listing better.
o I have turned on the notifications on new policy updates and new news on Amazon. As soon as the policy changes, we will go through the policy and will provide relevant courses to our team via Seller University and policy.
o In summary, I won’t be listing any products which were already listed on Amazon.
With no doubt, you can check all our listings (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/inventory/ref=xx_invmgr_dnav_xx?tbla_myitable=sort:{"sortOrder"%3A"DESCENDING"%2C"sortedColumnId"%3A"date"};search:;pagination:1); have compiled all the policies, and can assure in the future I won’t be listing/selling any products that violate any policy of Amazon.
Also, I have contacted my Supplier and told them about the issue. To help to reactivate it they have sent me a Certificate of IP Authorization.
I have attached the invoice for my purchase of the products, trademark certificate, the Screenshot of product removal from my account along with the certificate of Supplier Products Authenticity below: Lastly, as a director of the company, I apologized to amazon for the problem we have caused, and it would be great for your help to reactivate the account to do better in the future by rectifying all the mistakes we have made.
Moderator Edit (Ricardo_Mod_Amazon): removed personal information.
18 replies
Seller_NoMNQDGnEW5Bx
This reads a lot like it’s been copied from someone else and if it has, amazon will pick up on it. It also has far too many words and is very difficult to read in my opinion
Ash_AMZ
Hello @Doshopping ,
This is Ash from Amazon, and would assist you with your questions above.
From the post above, I understand that you need help with your account reactivation.
To help you better, kindly share the initial notification you received at the time of account suspension. You can find this in the Performance notification section of the seller central page.
Please keep us posted, the forums community and I, are here to assist you with your concerns.
Regards,
Ash.
Seller_iBrSIJDZKlsXi
wow, this is a heavy POA to read.
This is too much blurb designed as a block of text, and Amazon will not battle through that.
It needs to be big time re-done to much more clear and user friendly format.
Start with breaking it to separate sentences, create points and line it up neatly.
ditch all excuses and apologies, no one (who makes decisions on your suspensions) cares for that, stick to the facts.
Take the blame for your errors (this is the only way for Amazon to see, that you understand what you did wrong).
Your actions to resolve the issue is sad and way lacking in terms of improvement.
You need to state the obvious there, like “I HAVE RE-TRAINED MY OPERATORS TO UNDERSTAND BRAND ALLOCATION ON LISTING” and “I HAVE RE-READ ALL THE AMAZON TERMS AND CONDITIONS REGARDING BRAND ALLOCATION AND IP OWNERSHIP, THOSE CAN BE FOUND ON THIS LINK:… … …” This is to prove, that you did take the time to read Amazon T&C regarding this matter and you DO know where to find them.
going forward is a bunch of apologies again, ditch that… Amazon does not look for an apology from you.
this should be in previous section of your plan
blurb… remove
blurb… remove
is his even yours? or did you borrow that from someone else POA, if so, dont…
section 4??? As far as i am concerned, there should be 3 sections of your POA this is formatted incorrectly, and needs re-designing.
Sorry to be a little blunt here, but if you want to successfully appeal, then you need to start this POA over.
Remember, that you do not have infinite number of tries, eventually Amazon will stop responding, so maybe once you have re-done your POA, post it here for some constructive pointers.
Either way good luck
Seller_iBrSIJDZKlsXi
No you don’t… Your product is, in the eyes of Amazon a counterfeit of LK brand. Remove this sentence, this will get your POA fail right away.
Again, this is passing the blame to the system, it is NOT amazons responsibility to check your rights to sell these products, it is yours. Remove
you just said in your first part, that you was not aware of the policy… Change to “I have educated myself about the relevant policy, this can be found on this link: … … …” Provide a link to the relevant policy to prove you know where it is on Amazon T&Cs
If you have not succeeded, this is irrelevant… Remove
this one is confusing, because it is neither here nor there to the actual problem… Remove
irrelevant blurb… Remove
All in all much better, remove these points above, and put more work in section 2.
In section 1 make sure it is obvious, that no external factors played any role in your judgement error, because if it is not you, then you cannot control that, and in the eyes on Amazon this means, that you will not be able to guarantee, that this will not happen again.
Do some corrections and bring it back in here
Seller_n4kRsnoBq5jty
Thank you for your help. can you please review it now and help me to make it perfect.
Respected Seller Performance Tram
Subject- Account Temporarily Suspended Due to IP Violations Complaint (Counterfeit)
ASIN- B09MQNYXZN
On the date 8th March We have received a notification email in our seller central account stating our selling privileges have been temporarily suspended due to IP Violations Complaint (Counterfeit)
The root cause of the infringement:
The reason for the account deactivation is the complaint on Intellectual Property rights violation (counterfeit) and product authenticity on LK Brand ASIN B09MQNYXZN. This happened because I listed under LK brands without the permission of the Brand Owner. The products were not from LK Brands Supplier/ Distributor. Those products were from my own brand. Without authorized invoices from LK Brand Suppliers, I mapped my products under ASIN B09MQNYXZN.
I have received complaints on IP Violations (Counterfeit) and product authenticity from the LK Brand Owner. The gap of proper information on listing policy and IP violations including Counterfeiting under others’ brands led to the Infringement. I accept the mistake I have done and want to apologize to the Performance for breaking Amazon policy.
• Why has this happened?
Without the permission from Brand Owner and knowing all the policies I applied to sell LK Brand Listing ASIN B09MQNYXZN. I mapped my product under LK Brands’ listing without the letter of authorization from LK Brand. That was the reason they file the IP Violation and Product Authenticity complaint.
The reason I have listed on ASIN B09MQNYXZN: While I was listing for LK Brand I thought I could list for this particular brand without the authorization as I was not fully aware of the Policy. Hence, I listed my own products under LK Brands’ ASIN.
• How has this happened?
I have authentic and similar phone cases and screen protectors from my Supplier xxx While I was mapping these products under ASIN B09MQNYXZN, I was not fully aware of the policy that for every listing on others’ brands I need permission before. Without the letter of authorization from the LK brand owner and supplier, I listed the product.
The action I have taken to resolve the complaint:
• As soon as I got a message from the Brand Owner I close the selling offer from my inventory on ASIN B09MQNYXZN. Then I have educated myself about the relevant policy on IP Violation and Product Authenticity from Seller Central University ( https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201361070?ref=ss_ahd_pp_intel_prop).
• Now onwards, I won’t be selling those products under LK Brand, and I will be creating my listing to sell only authentic products under my brand. I have deleted the ASIN from my inventory as well and won’t be mapping again. I can refer to this link if I need more guidelines: (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201844590)
• I have checked properly on all my inventory in Seller Central Account. Currently, all the products on my inventory are all listed by me and all the products are authentic. I can assure you that none of the listings violates infringement.
• I have tried to contact the Brand Owner to appeal for the retraction of the complaint however he is not responding to my email. Both counterfeit complaints were from the same Customer (LK Brand). I have attached a screenshot of the email below.
Steps to prevent infringement going forward:
• Now in my inventory I am selling authentic products on my listing. In the future, I will be selling Authentic products under my brand only. For this, I will be creating my listing following the guidelines from Amazon policy and Seller University (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/learn/courses?moduleId=def868a8-ec55-4734-b15d-c425d6c31598&ref_=su_home_pm&modLanguage=English). I have re-trained myself to understand more on how to list products on existing products on Amazon and brand allocation on the listing.
• For Product Authenticity, I will make sure the following:
- The Supplier/ Distributor is providing good quality products and they have the Certificate of Authorization for the particular product. For the quality and packaging, I will make sure with my forwarder in China for proper inspection of the products before creating shipments.
- I will research the product’s quality, material and check invoices of the purchase. During Inspection I will Make sure products are not bootlegs, fakes, or pirated copies of products or content; products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured, and products that infringe another party’s intellectual property rights. I can find all those information in this link
• I can’t sell my Generic products on others’ brands without their authorization. If I wish to map products on others’ brands, I will find their Supplier or Distributor and get my supply from them. I will research to examine whether the products are authentic or not. Then only I will be listing. For example,
If I want to sell the products under any brand; I will find the distributor/Supplier who supplies that brand’s products. I will make sure of the authenticity of the products and keep invoices. Only after that, I will map those products under the particular brand.
• If I wish to map products on others’ ASIN: First, I will find out whether my supplier sells on Amazon or not. If they sell on Amazon, then only, I can map my products under their ASIN.
How we comply with the policy now and in the future:
• To prevent infringement going forward I have re-read all the amazon terms and conditions regarding the brand allocation and IP ownership. That includes the policy to counterfeit on Brands, trademarks, copyright, and design. Those can be found on Seller University at this link: ( https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201361070?ref=ss_ahd_pp_intel_prop)
• I am fully aware of Counterfeiting on others’ brands. From there I came to know Products offered for sale on Amazon must be approved by the brand owner. The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited. Failure to abide by this policy may result in loss of selling privileges which is directly coming under Amazon’s Anti-counterfeiting policy. These are the links I followed on Amazon Intellectual Property Policy ( https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201165970 ).
• For reviewing the Intellectual Property I will visit (https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/intellectual-property ) for the UK and (https://worldwide.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?locale=en_EP) for worldwide.
• Now, I have a better understanding of Amazon IP Intellectual Property and IP Violations Policy, brand ownership, counterfeiting on Copyrights, and trademarks.
via Seller University. Through brand registry and https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/learn/courses?moduleId=def868a8-ec55-4734-b15d-c425d6c31598&ref_=su_home_pm&modLanguage=English).
• I came to know that I can’t sell other products without their permission, and they can complain to us if I do. Doing so My account could be deactivated and may be banned from selling if I repeat the violation. Following the reference on listing policy violations https://sellercentraleurope.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G20.
• Following all those guidelines and lessons we have checked our account and can confirm that we haven’t got any product that doesn’t comply with Amazon policy on listing products.
• In the future, won’t be listing and selling other’s products on Amazon without the permission of the Brand Owner. I will be selling only products on my trademark.
• I will be constantly monitoring Account Health under the Performance Tab. It will give me a notification of any policy changes in the future as well as it will help me with all the policies and guidelines to follow and make listing better.
• I have turned on the notifications on new policy updates and new news on Amazon. As soon as the policy changes, we will go through the policy and will provide relevant courses to our team via Seller University and policy.
• In summary, I won’t be listing any products which were already listed on Amazon, and I will get Brand Owners’ permission first if I have to list those products.
• Also, before I had a Consultant from Amazon xx who used to guide me. As soon as my Account is reactivated, I will ask for another consultant so that I could seek help in the future. I will be contacting the Amazon support team via chat and phone as well if I need any help and if I got any confusion in the future. For listing products, advertisement, and brand promotion I will be seeking
Lastly, as a director of the company, I apologized to amazon for the problem we have caused, and it would be great for your help to reactivate the account to do better in the future by rectifying all the mistakes we have made.
The attached documents include:
• The certificate provided by my supplier xxxxxxxxx along with the invoice of purchase.
• The Screenshot of the email trying to contact the Brand Owner.
Seller_2Su3bcJXQR0sO
I can see why you listed against LK iPhone 12 case listing. I’ve just try to add to this listing and it ALLOWS me to list, no mention of any prohibition or authorisation needed.
There’s also two other USED seller for this listing?
Don’t know if this helps, but maybe you can include the screenshots into your POA?
Seller_2Su3bcJXQR0sO
Looks like a very generic product…sold on Alibaba for $0.45! The only difference is LK gives 2 screen protectors…which probably cost $0.01
