Recieved email and registered letter from law firm regarding 1 of the items I had for sale on FBA
I recently received the following email and registered letter from a law firm regarding a hard drive I had listed up for sale on FBA. (I have looked up the law firm and it is a legit company/law firm)
This hard drive was sourced from the UK and I have the invoice from the source to prove it, but I’m not sure if I should bother replying as I have heard people saying that these types of letters are just scare tactics and if you reply it will encourage them to pursue you.
I was wondering if anyone has received anything similar and what the best course of action is? Should I reply or are they just fishing?
I have since removed/deleted this item from my FBA
This is the letter I received (I have redacted/removed names etc)
Dear Sir, Madam,
We represent Western Digital Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Western Dig- ital”) from San Jose, California, USA. As you are undoubtedly aware, Western Digital is a worldwide leader in data storage solutions that are sold in many countries around the globe.
Western Digital’s products are protected by many intellectual property rights, including patents, design rights, copyrights, and trademarks. These include registered Community Trade Marks 0,563,510 for the mark “WESTERN DIGITAL”, 4,183,356 for the mark “WD”, and 4,333,035 for the WD logo.
Western Digital has ascertained that you are a trader in Western Digital products under the name [Redacted] on, inter alia, [Amazon.co.uk.]
Western Digital has examined your listing(s) and has reason to believe that the Western Digital products you are offering to consumers on the market in, inter alia, the United Kingdom, are imported from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), i.e., the single market formed by the European Union (EU), Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland.
Based on Article 9, in conjunction with article 15 of the European Union Trade Mark Reg- ulation (EUTMR) (Regulation 2017/1001/EU), Western Digital can, inter alia, oppose the import, the offering, and the putting on the market of Western Digital products, even genuine goods, if these products have not been placed on the EEA market by Western Digital or with Western Digital’s consent. In other words, Western Digital can oppose trade in the EEA in Western Digital products if these products were not sold by Western Digital in the EEA.
In line with standard case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the burden of proof that (each individual item of) the Western Digital products were put on the market in the EEA by Western Digital or with its consent rests with the trader in these goods.
We, therefore, urgently request you to provide us with evidence, i.e., invoices, demon- strating that all Western Digital products offered for sale by you, within the past ninety (90) days, have been put on the market in the EEA by Western Digital or with its consent.
We expect to receive your reply (including invoices) as soon as possible, and in no event later than seven (7) business days from the date set forth above (Redacted).
If you do not comply with our request within the time period specified above, Western Digital will explore all legal rights and remedies available to it, which may include report- ing you to Amazon UK.
On behalf of Western Digital, we expressly reserve all rights and remedies available under applicable law.
Sincerely,
[Redacted] (Solicitors name)
Recieved email and registered letter from law firm regarding 1 of the items I had for sale on FBA
I recently received the following email and registered letter from a law firm regarding a hard drive I had listed up for sale on FBA. (I have looked up the law firm and it is a legit company/law firm)
This hard drive was sourced from the UK and I have the invoice from the source to prove it, but I’m not sure if I should bother replying as I have heard people saying that these types of letters are just scare tactics and if you reply it will encourage them to pursue you.
I was wondering if anyone has received anything similar and what the best course of action is? Should I reply or are they just fishing?
I have since removed/deleted this item from my FBA
This is the letter I received (I have redacted/removed names etc)
Dear Sir, Madam,
We represent Western Digital Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Western Dig- ital”) from San Jose, California, USA. As you are undoubtedly aware, Western Digital is a worldwide leader in data storage solutions that are sold in many countries around the globe.
Western Digital’s products are protected by many intellectual property rights, including patents, design rights, copyrights, and trademarks. These include registered Community Trade Marks 0,563,510 for the mark “WESTERN DIGITAL”, 4,183,356 for the mark “WD”, and 4,333,035 for the WD logo.
Western Digital has ascertained that you are a trader in Western Digital products under the name [Redacted] on, inter alia, [Amazon.co.uk.]
Western Digital has examined your listing(s) and has reason to believe that the Western Digital products you are offering to consumers on the market in, inter alia, the United Kingdom, are imported from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), i.e., the single market formed by the European Union (EU), Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland.
Based on Article 9, in conjunction with article 15 of the European Union Trade Mark Reg- ulation (EUTMR) (Regulation 2017/1001/EU), Western Digital can, inter alia, oppose the import, the offering, and the putting on the market of Western Digital products, even genuine goods, if these products have not been placed on the EEA market by Western Digital or with Western Digital’s consent. In other words, Western Digital can oppose trade in the EEA in Western Digital products if these products were not sold by Western Digital in the EEA.
In line with standard case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the burden of proof that (each individual item of) the Western Digital products were put on the market in the EEA by Western Digital or with its consent rests with the trader in these goods.
We, therefore, urgently request you to provide us with evidence, i.e., invoices, demon- strating that all Western Digital products offered for sale by you, within the past ninety (90) days, have been put on the market in the EEA by Western Digital or with its consent.
We expect to receive your reply (including invoices) as soon as possible, and in no event later than seven (7) business days from the date set forth above (Redacted).
If you do not comply with our request within the time period specified above, Western Digital will explore all legal rights and remedies available to it, which may include report- ing you to Amazon UK.
On behalf of Western Digital, we expressly reserve all rights and remedies available under applicable law.
Sincerely,
[Redacted] (Solicitors name)
49 replies
Seller_bi8rGHHcLpoVs
I would definitely reply with a copy of the invoice. They only want to check that the item was sourced within the EU.
Seller_tJZSiH5mkICSk
They have directly purchased the product from you. Thats why they have your details as a seller…period
Seller_0jWlqgUh2docO
Reminds me of an occasion where i received an official looking letter from Toyota head office asking for information regarding the Toyota MX5 product i was selling
Seller_DJwE1RXTpAHPh
Registered letters, haha. What era is this sender from? Signing for a delivery does not equate to acceptance, it’s been shown in court many times and this solicitor’s firm should be aware of that if they are worth their salt. Let them contact Amazon with their concerns. Amazon will then contact you. There is a whole Amazon procedure for IP owners to follow and sending letters and emails directly to sellers is not it. It’s funny but not surprising that solicitors don’t seem to get the meaning of the word solicit. Thank you for the entertainment, I love seeing examples of white collars striving to exhibit their self-inflated relevance
Seller_DQUCTWPjSm8fp
If the worse case scenario is that they might report you to Amazon, I wouldn’t worry about it. If it is legitimate, by removing the item from sale, there is nothing to report you for. I certainly wouldn’t give them invoices. It could still be a con.
It seems like a lot of legal jargon just to threaten you with being reported. The worst Amazon would do would be to suspend the item in your inventory.
Seller_FEXQNLthJaFTn
If you sourced your goods from within the EU then Article 15 does not apply and WD can do nothing. Where did you source them from? Have a look at the quoted directive.
Seller_CEgTESSzVa2Tt
Its rubbish it is word for word a copy of a letter we received regarding a totally different item. Also herinafter would be known as Western Dig-ital they said yet never called themselves that after that wording.
It is a phishing scam for your information.
Seller_JHdYYHAeKWpb1
In all fairness these grey imports are a bit of pain for those of us who purchase from the correct distribution channel… Do you have a WD digital certificate as WD can access your purchasing history from your distributor. They can see your full purchasing history weather you use any of their distribution channel that’s how they work out out your pricing and rewards… If it a legal letter I would advise you to address it. This is not a parking fine like from private land owner. You can acknowledge them then confirm that the product is no longer for sale as you weren’t sure of its origins. Thank them for giving you that information. Or may be wait until you get a second reminder. Not really sure what to say as I have not been in this situation. They are really affronted due to the fact that they written to you, they must have had access to your sales history to see that you have profited from this. Sorry if this sounds harsh grey import is illegal.
Seller_ae51e0CJoHqCX
The issue is that anyone unscrupulous can send an email pretending to represent the company. I wouldn’t send an email back but write to the Western Digital and ask if the email was legitimately sent from them.
One of three things will happen. You will get yes, no or be ignored. If the answer is no or ignored then you have a record that you attempted to resolve the potential issue and leave it there.
If they come back with a yes, then simply respond to their email saying that the product you are in dispute is no longer available for sale by you and then move on.
If it is legitimate they are waiting for you to respond so they can pass it onto Amazon anyway. If they see the listing has been removed then what is the point of them doing anything more with it.
The email is definitely a scripted message that is either been used for phishing or to scare people into removing listings because Amazon are not always quick to provide a solution.
I have listings that have my own branded products and when you get someone else using my listing to sell products, it really is a pain to get Amazon to deal with it and a quick email to the seller often gets it removed instantly.
Seller_RiVN2dcWY6xy9
You say you sourced the product in the UK, but are you sure that the supplier sourced the product within the EU.
The solicitors seem to be fairly certain that you are not selling an item originally exportd from the US to Europe for sale. I expect there are price differences meaning that if your supplier soruced the item from say India, then they may be able to provide the item at a much lower price and you can then sell at a much lower price than European stock.
If you intend to sell more of the item I would check with the supplier to see where they are getting their stock from. If you dont intend selling the item again just bin the letter, or reply stating that you no longer intend to sell the product.
