Unfounded counterfeit claim
Twice in the past, a particular company has opened counterfeit claims against. Both times Amazon has dismissed the claims on appeal and restored our listings. However, last Friday they struck again and this time SS are just giving us copy and paste replies (3 times) saying we need permission from the rights holder, even though we are the rights holder. They are not reading anything I put in my appeal. They just want a retraction from the rights holder.
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The company that reported us has a trademark (two words, word mark) registered only for class 30, which is a grocery item, a beverage. We are selling mugs which are class 21.
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We are not using the words in their word mark, trademark. Just one of them which is an English county that is not trademarked. We don’t use the other word in their trademark anywhere. Not on the product, title, keywords, etc.
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The design we use is our own. The background image is a photo taken by me. The design was registered with the IPO since 2020. We are the IP rights owner.
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We are selling this product under our own trademarked brand, that is enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. We are not using their brand, or claiming it is their brand, so how can it be a counterfeit?
I just don’t understand why SS are ignoring the facts this time when they have been quick to fix this in the past. Any help or suggestions would be welcome.
40 replies
Seller_nRhZxElkqUPAM
Have you contacted this company and told them to pack it in?
Seller_uZmYgk2Q734Ed
On what basis of IP infringement was your listing removed? Trademark infringement? Design rights infringement? Copyright?
Have you considered writing directly to notice dispute to reverse the decision (based on the ground that the infringement claim was invalid in the first place)?
Notice dispute is for retraction, but it can also be useful to refuting baseless infringement claims.
You may also want to start looking for a reliable solicitor specialising in IP (esp Amazon platform), who is willing to communicate with this particular company, in case that this particular company is abusing the reporting tool to unlawfully remove competition.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
The company that reported it said we were selling counterfeit products. That is what the claim is based on.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
It doesn’t say the basis other than the trademark number which is for class 30 only (grocery, a beverage). We are selling ceramic mugs which is class 21.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
Hello,
We removed some of your listings because we received a report from a rights owner that they may infringe the rights owner’s trademark. The rights owner communication about the alleged infringement and the listings we removed are at the bottom of this message.
Why did this happen?
We received a report from a rights owner that one or more of your listings are inauthentic. Listing content infringing on the intellectual property of others is against our policies.
We’re here to help.
If you need help understanding why your listings may infringe the intellectual property rights of others, please search for “Intellectual Property Policy” in Seller Central Help (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/external/201361070).
How do I reactivate my listing?
Please provide the following to reactivate your listings:
– An invoice, letter of authorization, or a licensing agreement from the manufacturer or rights owner demonstrating that your products are lawful. External links are not accepted. For security reasons, we only accept attachments in the following file formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .pjpeg, .gif, .png, .tiff.
How do I submit this information?
Go to Received Intellectual Property Complaints under the Product Policy Compliance section in account health (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_mpa) and locate the deactivation record for this product listing. Click on the Appeal button next to the listing deactivation record to submit information necessary to reactivate your listing.
Have your listings been removed in error?
If you have never sold or listed the product, please reach out to us and tell us.
If you think that the rights owner has made an error in sending the notice, please reach out to the rights owner and ask them to submit a retraction of this notice. We may only accept retractions that the rights owner submits to us directly. We do not accept forwarded or attached retractions.
These are the rights owner’s contact details:
– Katie *****
– katie@*******
For any other reason, please explain to us why you were warned in error so that we can investigate the case.
What happens if I do not provide the requested information?
Your listings will remain inactive. We reserve the right to destroy the inventory associated with this violation if proof of authenticity is not provided within 60 days. Violating this policy may also result in the loss of selling privileges or other legal consequences.
Rights owner communication: NA
ASIN: B0*******
Infringement type: Counterfeit
Trademark asserted: UK*******
Complaint ID: 8908962852
You can view your account performance (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?reftag=email_warn) or select Account Health on the home screen of the Amazon Seller app on your iOS or Android device. The Account Health dashboard shows how well your account is performing against the performance metrics and policies required to sell on Amazon.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
I wrote to them in the past, for previous “trademark” infringements and they never replied, so I have little hope of them responding.
In those two cases, Amazon reinstated the listing on my appeal. This time I just keep getting the same copy and paste replies even though I keep asking them to read my appeal which has the same points I made in my opening post. Not long winded but concise and factual.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
I can’t see any conflict of interest. We don’t sell grocery products and they don’t sell ceramics.
I don’t know why they keep doing this. In my appeal I quoted the previous Complaint IDs to show SS that they keep doing this and that Amazon have reversed the complaints and restored the listings.
As I said before, the complainant will not respond, so there is no point asking them anything.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
I’d rather Amazon just dealt with this the way they have on previous complaints from the same company.
Maybe @Virgil_Amazon can tell me how I can get SS to read my appeal? I get copy and paste replies within minutes, so they can’t have possibly read it.
Seller_pKdF0dnvoraDu
Hello @Aroha,
Virgil here to assist.
Based on my observations from your post, I want to provide you with a sense of direction moving forward.
We appreciate your efforts to comply with our policies and appeal the violations.
In order to get an in-depth understanding of the issue, and to assist you better, we would request you to kindly share the ASIN(s) in question.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Thank you all for your valuable inputs.
Best Regards,
Virgil.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
@Virgil_Amazon I have sent you a PM with all the details. Thanks!
