Hello fellow sellers.

My account has been deactivated for Intellectual Property infringement. £750 of my money is sitting in there, not able to be disbursed. Have submitted successful POAs for things in the past but have hit a brick wall on this one.

I have now submitted 4 POAs with greater detail each time, as they requested, but the account remains deactivated.

Background info: I run my own business printing football themed baby and kids clothing. Cute designs such as ‘Me & My Daddy Support TEAM NAME’ etc. One of the football teams names that I’ve used on such designs has triggered the IP complaint. I never use club logos or sponsors etc, just team names/nicknames and my own football themed designs. The IP complaint is a fair one, so I’m not disputing it – have deleted all listings containing the offending trademark.

----------- AMAZON’S RESPONSE AFTER 1st POA SUBMITTED ---------------

Hello,

Your account has been temporarily deactivated. Your listings have been removed. Funds will not be transferred to you but will stay in your account while we work with you to address this issue. Please ship any open orders to avoid further impact to your account.

Why is this happening?

We have not received a valid plan of action addressing the listings below.

Amazon previously alerted you of these issues through the warnings listed below:

Notice one:

– Date: 7/2/2021
– ASIN: XXXXXXXXXXX
– Name of Rights Owner: XXXXXXXXXXX
– Infringement Type: COUNTERFEIT

Notice two:

– Date: 7/2/2021
– ASIN: XXXXXXXXXXX
– Name of Rights Owner: XXXXXXXXXXX
– Infringement Type: COUNTERFEIT

Notice three:

– Date: 7/2/2021
– ASIN: XXXXXXXXXXX
– Name of Rights Owner: XXXXXXXXXXX
– Infringement Type: COUNTERFEIT

You can view your account’s performance at (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?reftag=email_appeal) 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.

How do I reactivate my account?

To continue selling on Amazon, please submit a plan of action within 24 hours. A valid plan of action should include:

– The root cause(s).

– The actions you have taken to resolve the notices of infringement or violation of Amazon’s policies.

– The steps you have taken to prevent infringement or violating Amazon’s policies.

----------- AMAZON’S RESPONSE TO SUBSEQUENT POAs ---------------

Hello,

Your Amazon selling account will remain deactivated. Your listings have been removed. Funds will not be transferred to you, but will be held in your account while we work with you to address this issue. Please ship any open orders to avoid further impact to your account.

Why did this happen?

One or more of your listings may be infringing the intellectual property rights of others and the appeal you provided did not adequately address the intellectual property infringement.

We’re here to help.

If you need help better understanding what is causing this, please search for “Intellectual Property Violations” in Seller Central Help (https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/external/201361070).

How do I reinstate my account?

Please provide one of the following:

– Proof of product authenticity (e.g., invoice, Order ID, or letter of authorization). It must clearly prove that your products do not infringe on the intellectual property of the rights owner.

OR

A plan of action with the following:

– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve the complaint.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.
– Greater detail on how your account has complied with our policy.
– Greater detail on evidence or examples that demonstrate that your account has complied with our policy.

----------- MY MOST RECENT POA ---------------

Thankyou for taking the time to consider my appeal.

– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.

• Due to my inexperience in trademark law, I had not checked if the words/terms listed on the product pages were trademarked.
• I had similar items for sale unknowingly using the same trademark for a number of years and had never received an intellectual property complaint to date so I wasn’t aware that these new products would infringe any trademarks.
• These items were listed in bulk which inadvertently caused a number of IP infringements to occur simultaneously.

– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve the complaint.

• I have deleted the ASINs raised in this case.
• Although not reported by the rights owner, I have also proactively deleted all other listings containing the offending brand Name/trademark ‘XXXXXXXX’
• Complete deletion of these listings reflects my sincere intention not to sell these items again in the future.

– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.

• I have carefully read and understood Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy here https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/201361070
• I will continue to monitor my product performance list to identify problems and act before they lead to a complaint.
• I will carry out thorough quality control to ensure all items are 100% compliant with Amazon Policies and guidelines relating to Intellectual Property.
• Before listing any new products for sale, I will verify that the products don’t violate any intellectual property or trademark by performing a trademark search on the official Government trademark website https://www.gov.uk/search-for-trademark
• I will also monitor any changes to Amazon policies or applicable laws which could affect my account and act proactively to ensure no future violations.
• All offending ASINs have also been deleted from my Excel upload files so they cannot be accidentally re-uploaded in the future when making amendments to my other products.
• Employees to receive comprehensive training on Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy to ensure no further breaches.

– Greater detail on how your account has complied with our policy.

• All 372 ASINs containing the reported Intellectual Property violation have been deleted
• A further 600+ ASINs of other (unreported) products containing the offending trademark have been proactively deleted in light of the Intellectual Property violation.

– Greater detail on evidence or examples that demonstrate that your account has complied with our policy.

• Please see attached screenshot which demonstrates all products with the offending trademark ‘XXXXXXXXXXX’ have been deleted
• Please see attached screenshot of my product upload file. Column AH has been changed from ‘update’ to ‘delete’ for all products containing the trademark ‘XXXXXXXX’. This will ensure the products won’t be accidentally re-uploaded in the future when making amendments to other products in the file.

It is my responsibility to source and sell only authentic products and I understand that customers trust that they are buying authentic products when they shop on Amazon.

I believe the steps taken will answer the trademark owners’ complaints and the plan of action shows that I am committed to preventing future intellectual property complaints. I hope that you will allow my selling privileges to be reinstated. For any further questions or information please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks.

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The POA was more ‘punchy’ on the first attempt but I’ve added more and more detail as they’ve requested each time but I don’t think it’s helping as it’s now a bit ‘wordy’. If anyone has any advice on how I can convince Amazon to reactivate my account, that’d be much appreciated.

Thanks.