Brand/Trademark Used to Craft Items
BRAND NEW seller here!
We craft all of the items we sell. Everything we sell is made of wood, and 99% is treated with some kind of wood treatment from an actual brand, like MinWax or Cabot's. Many of our items are also hand painted. We're proud to use made in USA paints and typically name the paint brand in our product descriptions, too.
Today I am trying to completely setup our first ever product on Amazon. I finally got the product submitted and about 30 minutes later I received an email about possible trademark infringement because I named the manufacturer of the stain we used on the item in the product description.
Is there an article I need to read, or a video I need to watch, to learn how to name the products we use to craft our products? Would someone be so kind as to point me in the right direction?
Thanks in advance! Appreciated!
Brand/Trademark Used to Craft Items
BRAND NEW seller here!
We craft all of the items we sell. Everything we sell is made of wood, and 99% is treated with some kind of wood treatment from an actual brand, like MinWax or Cabot's. Many of our items are also hand painted. We're proud to use made in USA paints and typically name the paint brand in our product descriptions, too.
Today I am trying to completely setup our first ever product on Amazon. I finally got the product submitted and about 30 minutes later I received an email about possible trademark infringement because I named the manufacturer of the stain we used on the item in the product description.
Is there an article I need to read, or a video I need to watch, to learn how to name the products we use to craft our products? Would someone be so kind as to point me in the right direction?
Thanks in advance! Appreciated!
1 reply
Emet_Amazon
Hello @Seller_r285Mbt4dyhvg,
Thank you for sharing your concerns with an intellectual property policy violation.
We craft all of the items we sell. Everything we sell is made of wood, and 99% is treated with some kind of wood treatment from an actual brand, like MinWax or Cabot's. Many of our items are also hand painted. We're proud to use made in USA paints and typically name the paint brand in our product descriptions, too.
Today I am trying to completely setup our first ever product on Amazon. I finally got the product submitted and about 30 minutes later I received an email about possible trademark infringement because I named the manufacturer of the stain we used on the item in the product description.
If you are registered with handmade, or not we do ask that all sellers follow our intellectual property policy for sellers. These policies do outline some requirements, however more specific to your inquiry and concern, I would suggest reviewing our policy page on trademark: FAQ. I will highlight a few points from this page:
Where are trademarks displayed on detail pages?
- Trademarks are often displayed on Amazon's product detail pages in the form of product, brand names listed on a product detail page, in the listing Title, ''Byline'', Bullet Points, Product Description and even the ''Shipped by/Sold by'' fields. For example, the trademark "Pinzon" appears in the brand name or "byline" portion of the product detail page shown below. The "Pinzon" trademark also appears in the product name portion of the product detail page ("Pinzon Flannel Sheet Set - King, Sage"). In the listing and brand stores, a company's logo may also be displayed.
As a seller, when can I use someone else's trademark in the creation of a product detail page?
Typically, a seller can use someone else's trademark in the following circumstances:
- When selling authentic goods, a seller may use a trademarked name to list those goods. For example, a seller who lists an authentic ''Pinzon'' product is not necessarily infringing on the owner of the Pinzon trademark because the seller is using the trademark to identify an authentic product.
- When using a trademarked word in its ordinary dictionary meaning.
- When making truthful statements that a product is compatible with a trademarked product. For example, if you offer a cable that is compatible with the Kindle e-reader, you can use the brand name ''Kindle'' to indicate that compatibility in the text of your detail page. You cannot use a logo to indicate compatibility, only the brand name. Any statement you make about compatibility must be true.
- If you want to indicate the compatibility of your product with a product of a different brand in the product title, build your product title using the format shown below, taking account of the Amazon Brand Name Policy. If you do not apply this format to your product title, your listing may be removed as potentially trademark infringing.
Based on your mentioned use of other brands such as MinWax, and Cabot's, it may have caused a concern of improper or unauthorized use. Can you confirm if this was a suspected, or received intellectual property violation? Depending on the exact situation some listings can be updated to remove the infringement and appealed to resolve them. Your appeal would need to include actions taken to update listing and remove infringement, we may also ask how you will prevent this from occurring in the future. Other more serious situations will require documentation such as invoices or a letter of authorization from the brand.
If you would like or need further support with addressing your concerns, please follow up with your ASIN and original notification on the issue so I can look further into the situation.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Emet.
