Intellectual property complaints (both valid and baseless) have become somewhat of a regularity on the Amazon platform, and a common cause for seller suspensions. For Amazon Sellers, intellectual property issues can be complex, but more importantly they can cause your business to shut down completely if you lose your ability to sell. While many of our other articles discuss the application of intellectual property law to selling on the Amazon platform, this article shows sellers why it is so important to respond to intellectual property complaints regardless of whether they are valid or baseless.
Listing Suspension versus Account Suspension
There are two main types of Amazon Seller suspensions. Sometimes, an intellectual property complaint on the Amazon platform results in a listing suspension rather, but can also result in an account suspension. A listing suspension means that your Amazon Seller account is not permitted to sell one particular product, while an account suspension means total inability to conduct any sales. Although a listing suspension can seem like nothing to worry about (especially if the Amazon Seller is low on inventory or doesn’t sell a lot of that product), they should be taken seriously. While results can vary from account to account, even one or two intellectual property complaints can lead to a seller suspension
Sellers must realize that intellectual property law goes well beyond the scope of Amazon’s policies and terms of service. Rights owners can and do act outside of Amazon’s report infringement page and sometimes will bring their intellectual property complaints to a court of law. Once this happens, the opportunity to negotiate a retraction of the complaint with the rights owner is lost.
What Happens When Complaints Are Ignored?
Typically, when Amazon Sellers receive intellectual property complaints, the first step is to contact the rights owner to ascertain the basis for their complaint. This process usually involves several email or letter correspondence with the rights owner. When a rights owner (or any other complainant) files a complaint in court, notice of the impending lawsuit must be sent to the party accused of intellectual property infringement.
If an Amazon Seller ignores notice of a future lawsuit, the rights owner can seek what is called a default judgment against you. A default judgment is a binding order by the court in favor of one party due to the failure of the other party to take action. In this context, Amazon Sellers will be at risk of default judgment if they ignore notice of infringement or impending lawsuits; an issue that goes well beyond the scope of a seller suspension.
In addition, courts can exercise what is called personal jurisdiction over Amazon Sellers who may be committing intellectual property infringement. Personal jurisdiction is simply a court’s power over individuals involved in a lawsuit, it comes into play when the parties to a lawsuit live in different states. However, courts have held that personal jurisdiction exists for out of state defendants who allegedly engage in the sale of infringing products online.[1] This means that a rights owner can force you to come to court in their home state if you do not properly cooperate and adequately respond to their notices of infringement.
Conclusion
Amazon Sellers Lawyer knows that every sellers top concern is driving profits and remaining successful at what they do. While it may seem like a good idea to ignore an intellectual property complaint, especially if you receive only a listing suspension or if the item is not crucial to your sales volume, the results of doing so can actually be debilitating to your business. Regardless of the situation, it is always more cost effective to communicate with a rights owner and attempt to avoid litigation if possible. Intellectual property law is complicated, but Amazon Sellers Lawyer is here to help. If you find yourself dealing with an intellectual property issue or a seller suspension do not ignore it; give Amazon Sellers Lawyer a call instead.
[1] See Advanced Skin & Hair, Inc. v. Bancroft, No. CV 11-6587 RSWL, 2012 (C.D. Ca. Mar. 14, 2012) (finding personal jurisdiction over non-California defendant who allegedly was engages in selling trademark infringing skin care products online).
About the Author:
Written By: Robert Segall
Amazon Sellers Lawyer is a team comprised of unique individuals with extensive knowledge and backgrounds. They are dedicated to defending the rights of e-commerce entrepreneurs and sellers across all platforms. Founded in 1994 by CJ Rosenbaum, the firm is now emerging as an industry leader as evidenced by its receipt of the Bitbond Best E-commerce Site of 2017 award. Whether a seller is facing an Intellectual Property issue, their funds are being held, or they simply need assistance with a suspension and reinstatement, the team at Amazon Sellers Lawyer has the knowledge and experience to serve sellers day and night, all around the World.
Hello,
I launched a product beginning of October but a complaint by another vendor, Hexcup, claiming to have the patent for the design of the product (plastic cups), prompted Amazon to block my listing.
We have been advised to contact the vendor but the vendor is not open to negotiation or discussion.
We contacted 2 lawyers and they told us that Hexcup cannot forbid us to sell on Amazon or elsewhere because the product was visible by and accessible to customers long before the patent date. Some other sellers were already selling a similar product and a few factories in China including ours are manufacturing a similar product since April 2016.
We contacted the support a few times but our questions have remained unanswered. We are of good faith and are trying to do our best to solve this issue without involving an onerous lawsuit.
Hexcup’s sales are quite low and more dynamic sellers should be allowed to sell this common product for the benefit of all customers.
Account – Amazon Fees
Since this started my fees on Amazon have been increasing continuously even though there was nothing I could do on the account. Again I wouldn’t get any explanation about this. I was simply order to pay the fees. My account got blocked and still my questions are not answered.
Of course a lot my personal cash is tied in the inventory stuck in FBA and I am forbidden to sell or do anything with it.
I would like to solve this issue and come out clean as I am persuaded we did nothing wrong .
Thank you for your attention and Best Regards,
LOOS Florent
Hello Dear Support Team,
I am contacting you today to try to solve the issues relating to my account and my product.
As you know I launched my product in October but a complaint by another vendor, Hexcup, claiming to have the patent for the design of the product (plastic cups), prompted Amazon to block my listing.
We contacted the vendor who doesn’t want to allow us to sell our product.
In the meantime:
1. Our debt to Amazon kept increasing to around 1500USD. We couldn’t understand why.
2. We contacted a lawyer and he told us that Hexcup cannot forbid us to sell on Amazon or elsewhere because the product was visible by and accessible to customers long before the patent date. Some other sellers were already selling a similar product and a few factories in China including ours are manufacturing a similar product since April 2016.
3. We contacted the support a few times but our questions have remained unanswered. We are of good faith and are trying to do our best to solve this issue without involving an onerous lawsuit.
4. Hexcup’s sales are quite low and more dynamic sellers should be allowed to sell this common product for the benefit of all customers.
5. If you have an advise on how to proceed from here please let us know, we are eager to move forward. We would love to be able to sell our product on Amazon again.
You can contact us by phone at this number
Regards,
Florent Loos
Dear Jeff and Team,
I am contacting you today to try to solve the issues relating to my account and my product.
Product – Design Patent Issue
I launched a product beginning of October but a complaint by another vendor, Hexcup, claiming to have the patent for the design of the product (plastic cups), prompted Amazon to block my listing.
We have been advised to contact the vendor but the vendor is not open to negotiation or discussion.
We contacted 2 lawyers and they told us that Hexcup cannot forbid us to sell on Amazon or elsewhere because the product was visible by and accessible to customers long before the patent date. Some other sellers were already selling a similar product and a few factories in China including ours are manufacturing a similar product since April 2016.
We contacted the support a few times but our questions have remained unanswered. We are of good faith and are trying to do our best to solve this issue without involving an onerous lawsuit.
Hexcup’s sales are quite low and more dynamic sellers should be allowed to sell this common product for the benefit of all customers.
Account – Amazon Fees
Since this started my fees on Amazon have been increasing continuously even though there was nothing I could do on the account. Again I wouldn’t get any explanation about this. I was simply order to pay the fees. My account got blocked and still my questions are not answered.
Of course a lot my personal cash is tied in the inventory stuck in FBA and I am forbidden to sell or do anything with it.
I would like to solve this issue and come out clean as I am persuaded we did nothing wrong (we respect patents and other people’s work when it is legitimate, and are happy to pay the fees when needed but we need to know what they are for).
Thank you for your attention and Best Regards,
Thank for your comment and sorry to hear that you are having issues with your Amazon Listing. We recommend you contact Amazon Sellers Lawyer directly. Their information is in their bio in the blog post. Best of luck.