Someone registered my brand and now Im getting performance notifications?
Started selling on Amazon in 2015, had to come up with a store name and brand- Kevin Holt is my name so went with Holteez since I print and sell t-shirts. I tried to register this trade name in 2020 with UK Gov but is was rejected due to a complaint from Tommy Hillfiger.(but don’t get me started on that)
So I started getting notifications on Account health that I was using a registered trademark “Holteez” so I looked it up on tradmarks search Gov- and yes someone has registered “Holteez” they also tried to register another couple of sellers names but they were withdrawn. It could be coincidence but it does feel like someone wants to steal my listings.
Any way since Amazon automatically puts my shop name Holteez at the beginning of every title all my listings are now in breach of trademark. Is there a simple way to get all these changed and my seller name to something else?
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Seller_fMsCVAHNu4txH
You would’ve been rejected (regardless of Hilfiger) because it already existed.
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003453532
The brand ‘Holteez’ was already registered in December 2019 (active from March 2020), unless the details in that link are yours, you’ve actually been infringing that Trademark since 2020.
You would have to contest the registration with the IPO, and prove that you were already using the ‘Brand Name’ before the current owner of it. But since this was years ago, you might have difficulty proving that you have any rights to it.
Or… The brand owner has recently decided to start selling on Amazon, has now applied for Brand Registry and the bots are now picking up on the fact that you don’t own the rights to it.
It’s not your ‘seller-name’ they insert at the beginning of the title, it’s the ‘Brand’ that you’ve stated they are in the listing.
Unfortunately, you might not have an easy way out of this, as unless you can convince the IPO, you won’t have any right to use the branding, and Amazon are unlikely to accept any changes to the listings unless they come from the owner of the brand.
Seller_fMsCVAHNu4txH
Just noticed this…
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003649233
It appears you applied for your trademark in 2021, so in the IPO’s eyes you probably won’t have a leg to stand on.