False Intellectual Property Complaint?
Hi there.
I recently improved one of my products with a new design. This design is unique and i am the only seller on Amazon with this specific design feature. I registered the design feature with the IPO who checked it, and provided me with a registration number and certificate in March.
Yesterday i received notification that my listing has been removed due to a complaint from another seller. The compaint details provided their IPO design images which show their product to be a different design to mine, ( strangely there are lots of sellers using their exact design with active listings) yet Amazon are ignoring my documentation and refusing to reinstate my listing until i provide ‘proof that I have the Rights owners permission to make their design!’. I am the Rights Owner of my design! I annotated their design to highlight the difference as part of my appeal only to be told this is not sufficient evidence???
I am going around in circles here. I keep getting a copied and pasted response irrelevant to my appeal. My design is clearly different (a huge design improvement infact) but Amazon are seemingly blind to this and are being as helpful as an elephant in a minefield.
How can i get my listing reinstated? I cant quite understand how this accusation has been allowed and Amazon are justified in removing my listing- especially when there seem to be so many copies of their design that are allowed?
Any advice greatly received¬
13 replies
Seller_Zm6mSLypM9kp8
Amazon are not experts of such nuisances of product designs/IP rights and only go by the book (or bots) to make this judgement so expecting any reasonable response is very difficult but don’t give up and keep on trying.
Are you in Amazon Brand Registry or the other seller? What sort of documents are you providing? Was your product manufactured outside of UK and lastly have you checked this design in other Amazon regions like US, Germany etc?
It would also be helpful to see the full message of the complaint you received.
Seller_RLXCX068q9bgP
This may or may not help.
My scenario was I designed something and had the design registered, someone then reported me to Amazon & Ebay for copying their Registered Design. Listings removed, so much the same as your situation so far.
The other person then reported this to the IPO, my design ended up in front of a Tribunal Examiner who found in my favour, I then sent this on to Amazon and Ebay and whilst it still wasn’t straight forward, easy or quick my design is back available for sale in all marketplaces.
This process took a long time, I think over 2 years however Covid cropped up within that time so could maybe have been completed a lot quicker.
The step you are missing is the purported infringement going to the IPO.
I do hope that helps.
Mark
Seller_a9t680x7O4xWj
This is driving me around the bend. I think I’ve appealed 20 times and i keep getting the same automated reply:
Please provide any one of the below documents for proving authenticity of your listings:
– A letter of authorization (LOA) or licensing agreement (LA) directly from the rights owner indicating that you are authorized to use their intellectual property. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
– An invoice directly from rights owner to indicate that your products are original and are purchased from the rights owner directly. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
– Retraction from the rights owner to be sent to Amazon directly. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
Of course i dont have any of the above as my design is different. I do not need any of the above as my design is listed and registered with the IPO as a different design. I keep pointing this out but i am getting flatly ignored. What next? Managing Director?
Amar_Amazon
Hello @Kidease_Travel_Gear,
Amazon is dedicated to ensuring that products on its marketplaces do not violate or infringe a Rights Owner’s intellectual property (IP) rights. Rights Owners can report infringing content they find on Amazon and share answers to frequently asked questions on how Amazon handles infringement complaints. A Rights Owner includes any person (such as a brand, a seller, a customer or any third party) who legitimately owns intellectual property rights for the product in question.
To learn more about intellectual property rights, please visit your local intellectual property office.
If you have an established relationship with the rights owner who submitted the complaint (license, manufacturing or distribution agreement, etc.), we encourage you to reach out to the rights owner and request that the complaint be retracted. If we receive a retraction from the rights owner, your content may be reinstated. The rights owner’s contact information is provided in the warning you received.
If you believe that a rights owner, or Amazon, made an error when removing your product listing, reply to the notification you received and provide specific reasons as to why you believe a mistake was made. Provide any invoice or Order ID that demonstrates the authenticity of the product, where appropriate. We will then re-evaluate the notice and your content may be reinstated.
Amazon does not enforce distribution channel control reports or check for a seller’s authorization or ability to sell a brand’s products through the infringement form. If you report counterfeit on the basis that a seller is not authorized by you to sell or, you have not allowed other sellers to sell your product, it may not constitute an infringement complaint.
If you are reporting to the design patent offers mapped to your ASIN, make sure the ASIN is branded with your brand name or logo and that is clearly visible to customers on Amazon Detail Page image(s). If you are reporting infringement of your brand name on other products not manufactured by you, explain how the ASIN is misusing your rights.
Hope this answers to your query!!
Regards,
Amar.
Seller_rZax50qrWcaoG
What are the IPO design numbers so we can check?
