trademark violation email out of the blue
can someone please help me. I got an email stating that The product detail page for this product uses the protected trademark term of another rights owner butwhen i click on the email it gives the reason as a generic use of the word suncatcher which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever? no brand name given or company who has made a complaint and this item is handmade and personalised so i am even more at a loss how to respond?"
trademark violation email out of the blue
can someone please help me. I got an email stating that The product detail page for this product uses the protected trademark term of another rights owner butwhen i click on the email it gives the reason as a generic use of the word suncatcher which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever? no brand name given or company who has made a complaint and this item is handmade and personalised so i am even more at a loss how to respond?"
61 replies
Seller_RlZVPg3d6ZUGP
Suncatcher is trademarked if you check the IPO - depends what you're selling if the class is covered
Seller_ZQyopdiwkUHOZ
We've had two recently for the word 'smiley'. Two different band t-shirts (so we have no control over the title) had detail pages removed due to complaints.
It's pretty obvious that the Trademark wouldn't hold up in court, but that's the problem with a lot of IP situations, they never get tested in court.
You're not going to be able to get this overturned. If the detail page hasn't been removed, edit the listings to take the word out. That's all you can really do.
Seller_kI00dnVDHmdJj
I have just had it with a candle that read, Worlds best Brother. They have said I have to remove the word Brother as I am not allowed to use the manufacturers name. Even after pointing out it has nothing to do with the manufacturer and asking an actual human to look at it, they are still saying I have to change the wording.
Seller_kI00dnVDHmdJj
I also had a candle with a picture of a goldfish with a shark fin strapped to it in a motivational joke kind of sense, I had to exchange several emails to prove that it did not contain actual shark fin. The AI tools that are being used are clearly not quite doing the right job.
Seller_O54ilUZhAs8B4
My recent experience with the matter of trademarks on amazon shows that the situation is unsalvageable. I had listings shut down for trademark violation of "Plexiglas" which is common word for stating the material something is made of. It comes that some German company has it registered as trademark. The rediculous thing was that after checking the listing I did not find the trademark word "plexiglas" even mentioned in the whole listing. And here is more, amazon removed my listings from amazon.se.
I do not know if AI is taking care of these issues but after contacting SS as usual they proved to be useless continuing to state that there is trademark violation.
So Handmade_By_Heather, if you got the time and nerves to continue the fight, please update for results
Julia_Amzn
Hello @Seller_k2oCqDbxcM6Om,
Thank you for opening this discussion.
Did you submit an appeal?
Recently I saw few threads raising similar call outs.
As per Amazon intellectual property policy, sellers can use someone else’s trademark in the following circumstances:
- When selling authentic goods, a seller may use a trademarked name to list those authentic 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, descriptive meaning.
- When selling authentic goods that can be customized by the buyer (that is, print-on-demand) using the seller’s own equipment. For example, a seller prints a custom, personalized message or picture on an authentic “Callaway” golf ball.
Sellers, please comment this thread with your cases IDs if you were following this policy and your listings were taken down.
Thanks,
Julia.
Seller_Fg2fqaWOnEtha
I had a suspected IP violation for using the word LUSH as an adjective as part of the description.It was some time ago, I will try to see if I find the deactivated listing.
Seller_OKlTeWqCAV1RX
I have just had this problem with a mug where "brother" was used in the ordinary use as in sibling and seller support made me remove all mentions of the word even though they said they recognise I use it in that ordinary meaning.
Seller_WKzb5VxEtowzA
Hi Julia, we are desperately trying to get help for several items of ours that have been removed, including one where we actually own the trademark and have since 2015. This has been an ongoing issue for years and it causes havoc with our suppressed/inactive items as we then battle to try and get these back online.
Please see the following case IDs:
9707358792 (Swiftie, we are the owners of this trademark)
9710098642 (APPLE and GUESS) both natural words in their own right, but we have been accused of infringing the brands, despite this being used in a sentence.
Many Thanks
Seller_FKPphumoH8JrW
here's a case we're dealing with right now, with a similar issue. brand name's are exempt under Amazon IP policies, but a competitor seller is abusing policies by trying to utilize parallel import policies (which is by the way LEGAL in the UK) and is not even the case for us.
similar to post owner's issue, no IP trademark from UK databases, do not know who the complainant is, no contact information besides a random gmail account.
anyone can do this to their competitors, for basically any listing. it's basically blocking your competitor and having them kicked off the listing to keep the listing to yourself. and with the bots we're dealing with, it takes 10 appeals to get it removed, if ever.
case ID: 9794479312
