Received Intellectual Property Complaint - Trademark Complaint
Hello fellow sellers,
I have recently received an email from Amazon regarding an infringement on a rights owner’s trademark and because of this my listing has been removed. For context the ASIN affected is a protein shaker bottle which comes with a stainless steel mixing ball which is extremely common for products in that category. Upon searching the trademark that I have used (00003694040) at gov.uk the trademark is in fact the stainless steel mixing ball as seen here Search for a trade mark - Intellectual Property Office (ipo.gov.uk). This complaint was raised at Amazon by a company called Trove Brands which from what I can see is legit but the item itself has been around for decades and is sold by thousands and thousands of other companies. I have no idea how this is allowed to be trademarked and would be no different to someone trying to trademark a fork for example and issuing notices to all cutlery sets for infringing the trademark. This is just a blatant attempt at trying to reduce the competition which Amazon has undoubtedly fallen for. I have tried to contact Amazon regarding this but I am always met with the same copy and paste automated response. They have recommended I contact the rights owner for a letter of authorisation from the rights owner but the chances of me getting this from the email provided will be next to nil as their sole intention is just to reduce competition by the look of it. Is there anything I can do to reactivate my listing?
Thank you,
Miles
17 replies
Seller_gz8Zpbt4cgaqK
Hi, we have received the exact same IP complaint about our products from the same company as you. Our bottles have been removed, I see your bottle is still available online, did you manage to resolve the issue? Any help would be welcomed.
It’s mad they have managed to trademark an image of an item that’s been widely available for years, and then attack people already selling bottles with these items included.
Seller_FGrlSKDjwty1z
If its been around for years and you can evidence it i.e photos and screenshot images you can take the company to court for unjustified threats. Basically it stops bigger companies squashing smaller ones as they will end up paying you if they have a weak trade mark. It was only trademarked in Sept 2021 and I have bought drinks containers with that wire shaker ball in it donkeys years ago. The only way you will get your listing back is if the branded trade mark peeps withdraw their complaint in 180 days. All sorts of dodgy TMs get through as the IPO give them away like sweets with little checking. Legal action is expensive though. I have been through it.
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
You’ve got yourself a bit turned around about intellectual property.
You have different types of IP, trademark, design/patent and copyright being the major players.
Without going into too much detail - trademark does not deal with the what, it deals with the who. For instance Heinz Baked Beans are sold as Heinz Baked Beans and Heinz is the trademarked brand. It isn’t the Baked Bean that is trademarked, but the name of the brand. I suspect in the case of your listing someone has taken what is a relatively generic item (a protein shaker) and is selling it under their own brand. This is not uncommon and not necessarily wrong.
When you list on Amazon it is extremely important that the item you are offering for sale matches the listing EXACTLY - for this reason you should only add by the EAN (barcode) number of the product. It is not good enough to sell on a listing that merely looks the same, even if it is in fact an identical physical item.
I imagine if you look at the listing you will see a BRAND field underneath the product title like the example below.
Seller_D59sukg3PflcJ
Hello @Hydro_Gym_Sports
This is Aksh from Amazon, here to assist you.
We understand that you have concerns related to the trademark violations on your selling account.
First of all, we would like to thank @PeterB for their valuable inputs on the issue.
As mentioned by @PeterB we request you to kindly check the listing procedures on your account match the abovementioned requirement.
If you have any additional queries, you can always reach out to our Account Health Support via the “Call Me Now” button on your Account Health Page.
Kindly feel free to reach out to us if you have any further queries. We’re here to help.
Regards,
Aksh.
Seller_gz8Zpbt4cgaqK
I think you seem to be missing the point here, both myself (who is also going through this) and the OP have own branded goods selling in our own listing, my company has its own registered trade marks and is even in Amazons brand registry. We are not competing for the buy box or piggybacking anyone’s listing. Myself and the OP both sell different kinds of protein shaker bottles that come with a wire mixing ball.
The company making the complaint has managed to get a trademark of a mixing ball, in December 2021, even though these have been around for many years. They are now targeting Amazon accounts that picture a mixing ball in their listing saying it violates their IP. which is ridiculous, we are just showing what is included with our product.
Amazon are no help, siding with the company making a complaint. I have provided every bit of information to prove that we have not used their image or IP, but all they request is an authorisation from the company making the complaint. They are completely missing the fact that their trademark is simply a figurative mark, not a patent.
Seller_D59sukg3PflcJ
Hello @Hydro_Gym_Sports ,
This is Aksh from Amazon, to assist you.
We understand that you have concerns related to the trademark violations on your selling account.
If you believe that the ASINS in question have not violated the infringement policy of Amazon, kindly attach valid documents that prove the same.
- Letter of Authorization:
1.Rights owner’s brand or manufacturer MUST appear on the letter of authorization or licensing agreement.
2.The letter of authorization or licensing agreement come from the original reporter.
If you do not have the required information to prove that you have not infringed on any trademark or that your products are not counterfeit, you will have to delete the listing from your inventory to avoid any further impact on your account health dashboard.
You will also have to change your supplier and discuss about your future steps with Amazon to prevent the violations going forward.
As requested, you have to send a detailed and strong plan of action to reactivate your account.
These are important questions your plan of action will need to answer.
• How will you categorize your future listings ? Will that be Generic or Branded?
• If its Branded, how would you be updating your future inventory from which Supplier/distributor/manufacturer? What documents would you be reviewing before purchasing your products? How will you verify the documents?
• Also I would like to know whether you’ve purchased these products from a Supplier or Manufacturer?
• Which of the policies has been reviewed so far and how frequently you would be reviewing the policies? Please attach the links for reference.
• How will you ensure that your listings are not infringing on trademark and is not counterfeit?
• Discuss the resources that you will be referring to before listing and how will you be in compliance with the policies of Amazon.
Kindly ensure that you check all the official documents to check the authenticity and authorization of the products they sell.
Also ensure to check if the supplier has good rating and is a well-known and verifiable supplier with all valid documents/details.
We recommend you to submit a strong plan of action that can discuss the how you will manage your listings going forward and how are you going to prevent the violation going forward.
Root cause:
• Why didn’t you check if the product is in compliance with Amazon policies?
• Who was taking care of the listings?
• How many ASINs were listed without checking the intellectual property rights/infringement?
• Does your supplier has proper documentation?
• Would be able to prove the reliability of your supplier?
Corrective measures:
• Have you reviewed all other ASINs which are listed along with this listing?
• Have you received any buyer complaints on this ASIN?
• If yes, what was the resolution shared with them?
Preventive Measures:
• What are the policies you will refer to ?
• Do you need any employee who is well versed with intellectual property rights (concerned policy violation)?
• What are documents you will check before purchasing the stock from supplier/manufacturer?
• Do you know the seller university resources that you can use in this case?
• Do you have the letter of authorization for the products that you’re selling on Amazon? or would you like to procure letter of authorization from the right’s owner?
• Going forward, how will you list your products, will you be using any resources to be aware of the trademarks and right owner details for any brand or product?
• What are the resources that will be used?
• Which supplier will you be working with now? What are the details that will be validated before listing the products from the concerned supplier?
Please feel free to post on the same thread for any further queries. The Forums community and I, are here to support you.
Regards,
Aksh.
