I've received an IP Trademark Complaint From A Fake Brand Owner On A Shared Listing
I was selling on a listing with many other sellers, for months.
Out of a nowhere, a new seller joined the listing and within a week, we had all received a Trademark infringement complaint and blocked from the listing, other than this new seller.
The listing was created in 2010, and under that brand, there are about 30 listings for different products. We’ve only been removed from the one listing on the basis of trademark infringement.
The policy violation complaint email we received contains an email address for the person that’s complained. It’s a bogus email, a Gmail that doesn’t even work or exist. (BRANDNAME21)@gmail.com.
The remaining seller has been able to continue selling alone on the listing, and they’re a newly launched amazon seller. Looking at their company details and registration number, they’re a newly formed LTD company. Formed 10 years after the listing and they are not the registered owner of the trademark. That is a different company.
I believe the seller than came onto the listing, which is the one that remains on the listing and fraudulently claimed to be the brand owner, made up a Gmail, and contacted Amazon to get the other sellers removed.
However, it’s impossible to explain this to Amazon. I have appealed under ‘Account Health’ about 20 times, and every time I just get the same standard email saying they don’t have enough information to activate the listing, and I need a LOA from the brand.
I can’t them to understand that it’s a bogus complaint, not made by the legitimate brand owner, but by a competitor, claiming to be the brand owner.
I’ve tried Seller Support and again, they don’t get it. I still get the same email template about the product now being restricted and needing a letter of approval.
How can I possibly resolved this, when contacting Amazon is entirely automated, and they just don’t get the situation.
We got a huge amount of stock for it in FBA, but my main issue, is I don’t believe this is a genuine brand complaint. It’s fake.
10 replies
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
They shouldn’t be able to falsley claim they owned a trademark - they’d have to do it through brand registry whats the asin ?
It’s possible that they have taken over and been appointed as a brand representative or even the supplier themselves
Do you buy from the brand direct or a wholesaler ?
Are you 100% sure the brand was correct when you listed against it ? If so, and it is the same, an LOA should not be a problem presumably ?!
Ash_AMZ
Hello @Lorka_Online,
This is Ash from Amazon, and would assist you with your questions above.
From the post above, I understand that you have concerns on the intellectual property complaints.
As per the Amazon policies, sellers should comply with all federal, state, and local laws and Amazon policies applicable to their products and product listings.
Amazon does not allow listings that violate the IP rights of brands or other rights owners. Violating this policy may result in loss of selling privileges or other legal consequences.
Did you list the items of same brand or similar items ?
Where from did you purchase these items ?
Did you respond to the brand owner’s email which you received in the performance notification.
It’s been understood that your listing belong to brand owner IFA online.
So, to reactivate the listing, you have to get the LOA from the brand owner.
To learn more, please review Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy.
Thanks for your insights @The_Little_Shop.
Important: If you have a specific question about your IP rights or the IP rights of others you should consult a lawyer.
Regards,
Ash.
