On Amazon, it’s the sellers’ responsibility to make sure that their products are sold legally and with the property rights owner’s authorization. Failure to do so can result in an Amazon suspension. But what exactly does all that mean? If Amazon jargon is new to you, then let’s do a quick review of intellectual property A collection of ideas, concepts, … More right infringements.
Intellectual Property Rights. What Are They?
There are four types of property rights that Amazon sellers need to uphold: copyright, trademark, utility patent and design patent. In other words, they need to avoid bootlegs, rip-offs, counterfeits and knock-offs if they want to keep an Amazon suspension at bay.
On paper, selling these items on Amazon would make both the seller and Amazon liable for breach of intellectual property rights. But a court recently ruled that Amazon is not liable, given its business model, which means the seller is solely responsible for an infringement. Here’s what you need to know about intellectual property rights:
| Property Rights | Valid for | Apply to | Type of Infrigement | Examples | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copyright | Several decades after the author’s death | creative work like books, movies, songs, web content, paintings and photos | Bootlegging | Listing a computer game, the official cover picture, or an official critic’s review | Copyright ownership is passed down to heirs or third party |
| Trademark | As long as the items are sold or defended | symbols and terms, such as brand names and logos | Misleading the customer (rip-off) | Regular crayons sold as ‘Crayola’, ‘Apple compatible’ products, accessories ‘for Samsung’ products | Large companies run automated checks on listings, triggering complaints whenever sellers mention their brands |
| Utility patents (patents for invention) | 20 years | design features that affect functionality | Counterfeiting | Exact replica of a popular brand’s blender | A rising trend (search “potato peeler’ on Amazon) |
| Design patents | 14 years | ‘non-functional’ designs | Selling knock-offs | Imitation designer handbag | On the rise (search “Louis Vuitton’ on Amazon) |
So, What Happened?
A property rights owner or a legal representative probably filed a complaint with Amazon, claiming there has been an infringement. Amazon policy states that it does not allow counterfeit, pirated and unauthorized replicas, unpublished scripts, content copied and transferred to a different format, compilations, inauthentic accessories, software duplicates or knockoffs to be sold, among others. You may have had your Amazon account suspended and your funds withheld.
What Can Be Done?
1. When Amazon notifies you that there’s been an infringement, give them your undivided attention.
2. Check content guidelines and anti-counterfeiting policy.
3. Identify the item or listing information that is in breach of property rights laws and Amazon policy.
4. Look up the property rights owner, and speak to them directly, as they’re usually more sympathetic than lawyers. If you cannot reach them, contact the legal representatives Amazon mentioned in their suspension notification.
5. Reveal your suppliers and the terms of your contracts with them.
6. Appeal to the owner or representative to have the claim removed.
7. If the property right owner or their representative won’t get back to you, contact your lawyer to help prove your case.
8. If you can afford to leave your Amazon suspended account on hold, then postpone writing your POA until the matter is settled with the rights owner.
9. Proceed with writing a plan of action that includes the rights owner’s consent to remove the claim.
10. If the claim hasn’t been removed, then give Amazon a detailed account of the steps you and your lawyer have taken to avoid infringement in the future or prove that the claim is not justified.
11. Check your policies and quality control measures, and train your staff to recognize the type of products or listings that can trigger an infringement claim.
12. Delist and dispose of anything in your inventory that led to having your Amazon account suspended, and anything else you’re not allowed to sell on Amazon.
13. Submit your appeal to Amazon, confirming all of the above.
How to Avoid Future Infringements
For Private LabelThis is what you call products manufactu… More products:
1. When uploading your product information, pay extra attention to the wording you use, and make sure everything is original.
2. Look up keywords and phrases in trademark databases, such as Justia Trademarks.
3. Before listing a private label item, make sure it’s innovative and unique, even if it passes your patent check.
If you build up stock from third parties:
1. Check who owns intellectual property rights and selling rights for every item you list, if possible.
2. Check that you have the property rights owner’s consent for all the data you enter in the product listing fields, including photos.
3. Keep a record of itemized bills and invoices for every product you source, and check them before listing.
4. Make sure your documents are invoices, not order acknowledgments, proformas, commercial invoices, etc.
5. Research your suppliers and their competitors, and avoid buying liquidation stock from wholesalers who can’t offer supporting documents in an investigation.
To conclude, the best steps you can take to avoid an Amazon suspension due to breaching intellectual property rights depend on your business model. Either carry out all the necessary checks before you list own brands, or keep your paperwork at hand, relying on suppliers who can back you up, if you source from others.
40 Responses
We’ve had a notice that Amazon have removed a listing due to design patent complaint. The details of the claimant are sketchy with no name as a contact and a free email address to contact them. We don’t believe that this item would be patentable and checking the various databases this seems to be the case but we cannot take action as we have no information about the complainant other than an email address which they won’t respond to. We have asked Amazon for further details but at the moment we are still waiting on this.
What do you do in a situation like this? We can’t see evidence of an infringement and don’t have a patent number to check their claim and represent ourselves. It’s not the best way to approach it, we should be supplied with full claimant details along with the alleged patent number so that we can verify and either fight our case or see where we may have gone wrong should that turn out to be the case. Any advice appreciated.
Thank you!
Thank you for your comment, Jon, and sorry to hear about the trouble you’re having. What you can do at this point is try to find the patent registration yourself, by searching it here: http://www.trademarkia.com/patent-search.aspx
I’m not sure what your item is, but you can do random searches in here. For instance, we’ve had a client infringing a patent because of a bear face he had used when designing his Private Label slippers, and we found the specific drawing of the bear face registered in the Logo section of this website when investigating. If there is a patent/logo that you find, then you won’t be able to fight the suspension. Otherwise, you can have your lawyers contacting the company in question to get them to cooperate, and appeal to Amazon with proof that your item and/or brand have been officially registered and the complaint is unjustified. Hope this helps (Amazon won’t share more information than they already did, I’m afraid)
Thank you,
Iulia,
SellerEngine Team
Great article!
My account was suspended one month ago due to IP rights violation as i used the image of “The simpsons” on my product. Fox broadcasting company holds the IP rights of simpson and when i mailed them telling i regret using it and i have deleted the item and please send me a confirmation that y’all don’t have a problem with my catalogue as long as i am not using Fox’s content, they refused to do so as they say they are facing similar problem in bulk and cannot create personalized mails for everyone. Please advise me how to proceed.
Hello,
Sorry to hear about your account suspension. Our Services team might be able to help. I’ll have somebody from the team email you for more details.
Maria
SellerEngine Team
My account was suspended because Benchmade knives said I was illegally selling their products. However, I had only about 15 Benchmade knives and had on over 550 items besides. I have removed all the Benchmade knives I had in my inventory. How can Amazon suspend my whole account for a few items. I feel they should have removed those and kept my account selling privileges.
I am having other issues with Benchmade that have nothing to do with Amazon. They flat told me I would NOT be able to sell on Amazon again, how can they have that kinf of authority becasue the yare just being vengeful.
Alos, I have all my invoice where I purchased these items from Benchmade. I can provide all invoice of need be but I can not get any response.
How can I get my account reinstated?
Thanks-_Christa
417-7824998 daytime phone 10-4 central
Hi Christa,
I am sorry to hear you have hone through all this trouble.
I have addressed your situation to my colleagues in the Business and Services department and they will shortly reach out to you to discuss all the details and try to help.
We’ll be in touch soon!
Thank you,
Julia
SellerEngine Team
Thank you, I really appreciate the time and help.
Christa
Great read! My account was suspended today for ip rights infringement. While hospitalized on and off my wife decided to help keep my business afloat and purchased 4 different Star Wars items from a dollar store. 11 items sold for a total of $86.04. She thought she was genuinely helping as she helps me lost, label and ship, sorties sourcing by my side.
I contacted & spoke with Christopher Holm at Disney today ( the head of the Star Wars lisencing division) and was told “it sounds like an Amazon issue to me. if you have your wife’s receipts no harm”.
And said work it out with them, sorry for your problems.
Amazon is holding almost $2000 in pay and over 500 product line items in stock that I cannot sell & being held incurring storage fees. I understand the issue and just want the opportunity to make this right and work again.
Thanks
Ken
Hello Ken,
I am sorry to hear about your account suspension.
I have addressed your situation to my colleagues in the Business and Services department and they will shortly reach out to you to discuss all the details and try to help.
Best regards,
Maria
SellerEngine Team
Thanks for nice article!
I recently got a mail from Amazon that my account has been suspended and may not sell on Amazon.
They said I may infringe intellectual property rights or may be inauthentic.
Honestly it’s true. I did sell those items.
I bought those items from E-bay.
And Amazon asked me to send the documents if I want to sell on Amazon again.
(Copies of invoices, receipts, contracts, delivery orders, or authorization letters)
Of course, I do not have any of those.
I know it’s 100% my fault by selling them.
I already deleted the listing and sent the seller support team e-mail.
But I only got the same e-mail as I got before.(The one says I suspended)
I’m willing to remove the items away that has cause the problem.
I just want my account back and I already shipped lots of items other than that in the warehouse.
In that case, is there any possibilities to get my account back? And starting selling?
If there’s a certain way, I want to try everything.
I hope there’s any chance to normalize my account.
Hi Vera,
I am really sorry to hear about this situation. It’s really unfortunate.
It is typically difficult to reinstate in a situation with no invoices. However, I’ll address your case to my colleagues who are experts in Amazon suspensions and they will reach out to you shortly.You will then be able to discuss the situation at length with them and take the next steps towards reinstatement.
Thank you,
Julia
SellerEgnine Team
It took 3 months, but these ladies were very helpful. I finally got reinstated and I appreciate all there time and effort.
Thanks, Christa
Hi Christa,
I am happy we were able to help! Let us know anytime you have questions or concerns and we’ll gladly assist you!
Thank you,
Julia
SellerEngine Team
Hello,Lulia Talanga,
My account was suspended since last month I hope to get help from your team. Thank!
Rose
Hi Rose,
I am really sorry to hear about this situation. However, we do have a team of Amazon experts that might be of help in your situation.
One of my colleagues will contact you shortly via e-mail first and you will discuss more about this situation.
Thank you,
Julia
SellerEngine Team
Does Amazon even examine the validity of a complaint before removing an item from listing? I received the form email from Amazon after adding an identical product to an existing listing. I didn’t even create the listing myself. The product is not counterfeit, and is new and unopened in the same packaging with the same UPC symbol.
Specifically, it is this product:
https://www.Amazon.com/18-greatest-hits-asin-Asin/dp/B00K8SVO68
If there is some intellectual property rights violation, how did I violate it by merely adding to an existing listing?
Hi Joe,
I am sorry about this situation. Did you buy the product from an authorized distributor. The rights owner can ofc complain because the rights owner has no way of knowing whether you are authorized to resell the product.
Thank you,
Julia
SellerEngine Team
@OlteanuJulia
if I buy my products from a person who authorize to sell is it still Intellectual Property Rights?
what Intellectual Property Right actually means?
Hello,Lulia Talanga,
My account was suspended since Jun 14 The account was opened by my husband for 6 years ago. he passed away and it is only income that I had from Amazon.I hope to get help from your team.
Hi Ping Li,
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been suspended but thank you for reaching out to us. We have a lot of experience helping people get their accounts back online, and we would love to learn more about your situation so that we can determine the best way to help you. Each suspension reason requires a different approach, so we would need to know more about the circumstances before we could determine what to do. Our Services team will reach out to you via email today to set up a time to learn more about your suspension and discuss how we can help. We look forward to assisting you. Thanks again.
Kate
Hi:
My account got suspended for IP selling name brand hair dryer.
No help from the complainer.
They are just saying they need to verify that the item is not counterfeit, but do not respond any more.
I bought from wholesaler and have all receipts.
Can you help?
Hi Al,
I’m sorry to hear that you too have been suspended by Amazon recently. Thanks for reaching out to us. We have a lot of experience helping people get their accounts reinstated and back to selling. We’d love to learn more about your suspension so we can determine the best way we can help out. Each suspension reason requires a different approach, so we would need to know more about the circumstances before we could determine what to do. Our Services team will reach out to you via email today to set up a time to learn more about your suspension and discuss how we can help. We look forward to assisting you. Thanks again.
Kate
Hi – I received an infringement notice for my Amazon product and I’m writing to see if you and your team may be able to help. Look forward to hearing you soon. -ST
Hi,
I’m sorry to hear about your infringement notification. We have a lot of experience with this type of issue, and I am confident that we can help you sort it out. Since each case is different, we would need to reach out to you directly to learn more about the nature of the issue. Since some of that information could be sensitive we feel it would be best for you to email us directly at services@SellerEngine.com. From there we can set up a time to talk over the steps you should take to keep your account safe. We look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Vanessa
SellerEngine Services Team
I just started Amazon retail arbitrage and I purchase items from Amazon sellers. However, when I re-list them I got an email a “Warning: Notice of Intellectual Property Rights Infringement” email from Amazon. Also the item I listed for sale was blocked. Before I purchase an item I checked ASIN and I can I sale new item I don’t require any permit.
How do I approach this case? Look forward to hear from you soon!
“We are contacting you because we received a report from a rights owner that you are listing counterfeit items. Examples of these items are listed below:
ASIN: B0776P6W6T, iPhone X Clear Case, PORTHOLIC Thin Protective Phone Cover for Apple iPhoneX / iPhone 10 [Anti Scratch][Anti Slip][Slim, Soft and Flexible][Transparent Gel TPU Cover]
We may let you list this content again if we receive a retraction from the rights owner. Their contact information can be found below.
Claire, ,Xu
xurx@oneplusthreetech.com
If the rights owner agrees to retract their complaint, they must send the retraction to us at notice-dispute@Amazon.com.
If you believe that the reported content does not infringe the rights owner’s intellectual property rights, you may email notice-dispute@Amazon.com with supporting information.
We consider allegations of intellectual property infringement a serious matter and your account is under review. If we receive more complaints about your listings, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.com.
To learn more about this policy, search for “Intellectual Property Violations” in Seller Central Help.
Complaint ID: 1337143471″
Sincerely,
Hi Gunu,
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had this trouble with Amazon. Unfortunately, even though some items are not specifically gated by Amazon they may still fall under the intellectual property rights of another party. That party can report you to Amazon, which is probably what happened in your case. The best thing you can do is to write to the email address that Amazon included in the notification and ask them to remove the complaint. Make sure to include the complaint ID in the email. Unfortunately, it’s quite risky for you to continue to list those items, so we would not recommend doing so.
We are happy to help you with this process if you’d like. We have had a lot of experience helping sellers with these types of things in the past, so please email us and take advantage of our expertise. We can be reached at services@SellerEngine.com
Hello,
I’m coming from the other side of this discussion. About 2 years I launched a product that I designed and patented. We’re still small but growing. I recently started researching selling through Amazon and noticed a product that was an obvious clone of my product. The product is Sold and Shipped from China and I’ve submitted my intellectual property grievance with Amazon with no response. My question is what motivates Amazon to do anything about this if Amazon has been found not liable for these infringements.
Hi Scott,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re experiencing this frustration. We are here to help though. We are going to reach out to you via email because we would need to know a little more about the situation before we can determine the best course of action. Amazon has a strong interest in keeping counterfeit products off the market, but some items are more difficult to control than others. Look out for our email this afternoon.
Thanks,
Vanessa
SellerEngine Software
I am an FBA seller only selling PL products. I received an email from seller performance, titled “Notice: Policy Warning”, I also had a red flag in my Seller Central with the same warning. It says, “we received a report of trademark infringement from the rights owner listed below…….”. It then states that “if we receive more complaints about your listings, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.com”. It states an ASIN (example XXXXXXXXX) that does not belong to me. I called Seller Support and spoke to the Captive team, he checked every single one of my listing submissions since I started selling with Amazon and he confirmed that even historically I never listed the this ASIN (example XXXXXXXXX). He sent me an email to confirming his conversation and stated that the warning was in error as the stated ASIN XXXXXXX was never listed by me and I should ignore it.
However, after further checking of my inventory on Seller Central I noticed that clicking on one of my listings on Amazon.com shows a page that says: “SORRY we couldn’t find that page”. My product is a generic product, not patented, and sold by many sellers including me. I now believe that though I might not be selling the ASIN XXXXXXXX stated in the warning email, it is possible that a keyword might be trademarked which I innocently added to either my title, bullets or description. In the past 2 weeks I contacted the right owner of the trademark , stated in the warning email, and politely asked as to what it might be that I infringed on and to retract their complaint, promising that I will correct any violations of their right once they let me know. They have not got back to me despite my 3 emails to them. To show Amazon that I have taken action, I placed a removal order on the ASIN that Amazon suspended and deleted the entire listing for that ASIN. I have not email Amazon to inform them that I have not listed the ASIN they stated in their email and the steps that I taken in relation to deleting my listing. Can you please guide me as to what else I should do a part from contacting the right owner who may not ever reply; I am worried that setting idle could lead to my account suspended but I am not sure what else I should do.
Thanks
Hello,
Sorry to hear about this issue. Irina, my colleague from the Services team, will get back to you via email.
Cheers!
Maria
Hi,
My name is Florina, I am an FBA seller, my listing was suspended due to trademark infringement from the rights owner, unjustified in my opinion.
I need some support if is possible.
Many Thanks!
Hi Florina,
I am really sorry to hear about this situation. However, we do have a team of Amazon experts that might be of help in your situation. Please reach out to them here.
Cheers!
Maria
Much like some of the others on this page, I received notice of Violating a Trademark and therefore an intellectual property violation. I’ve been buying a popular Nutritional Supplement on ebay and selling it on Amazon. The Manf had contacted me in the past on Amazon asking for my supplier and asking me to maintain MAP prices. I let them know that I would adhere to the MAP pricing, but at the time I didn’t reveal my source. The notice that I received today did not identify any specific rights owner, but I called and left a message as well as sent emails to the manf basically to apologize and ask them to forgive me and contact Amazon to remove the infringement claim. Hopefully, I will get a reply from them. I believe that I have always had Authentic product, but since I bought off ebay, it could be hard to prove that. So first off, is it really a violation of intellectual property if I am selling authentic product on the same listing as several other sellers on Amazon? Second, I have already removed any possible violating listings. I sent an email to Amazon this evening basically just letting them know that I acknowledge receipt of the claim and that I will make it a priority and get back to them swiftly. Fairly quickly, I received a reply stating that “we cannot accept your appeal because it does not address the report we received from the rights owner. Please provide the following information so that we can process your appeal”. It goes on to state “If we do not receive the requested information within 17 days of the original suspension notification, your account will remain deactivated.” In the original email about the policy warning, it stated “How do I reactivate my listing?
Please provide one of the following to reactivate your listing:
1) An invoice, a valid Order ID, or letter of authorization from the manufacturer or Rights Owner demonstrating that your use of the trademark is lawful to notice-dispute@Amazon.com.”
I’m not so concerned about relisting the items in question, but I am concerned about the good standing of my account.
My account has not been suspended yet, but I fear it might. I may need your help with the plan of action and/or suspension reversal. Please give me some direction.
First of all, the message about your account remaining deactivated seems to be a glitch. That said, IP infringements are serious, can threaten your account, and should be properly addressed. So it’s great that you’re making an effort to address it.
While you might not be infringing on their IP rights per se, it will be hard to prove that to Amazon without sourcing they recognize as valid, and eBay will not cut it. Nor will the manufacturer, which seems to be why you were singled out.
It could be tricky but it from what you say, I’m pretty certain you can resolve this. Let us know if you’d like us to do a more thorough analysis of the situation—it’s free, and it would help us give you a better picture of how to address it to satisfy Amazon and the manufacturer.
Hi,
My account was suspended because of the IP infringement, counterfeit complaints. I was selling this brand unauthorized so the brand owner refused to retract the complaint from Amazon. I have sent Amazon all the required invoices from brand authorized distributor. Amazon keep replying the same message that I need to send invoices to prove and retraction email from the complaint. Do you think my account can be reinstated without the retraction. Any information is appreciated.
Hello, Jane,
I am really sorry to hear that your account got suspended. It’s usually pretty difficult to reinstate an account without a retraction from the rights’ owner. However, each case is different, so you can reach out to us here so that we can do a free assessment of your account.
Cheers!
Maria
I received an IP complaint about a phrase on a shirt I sell. My account wasn’t suspended but I want the complaints removed.
I emailed the person who made the complaint. She has a small podcast and her brand name, which is two words, is commonly used and sold on 100’s of items across Amazon (she sells nothing on Amazon). I’m blown away they were able to even trademark it.
I emailed the lady and she demanded $1000 and she’d retract the claim.
It’s a new item and I only sold a few so my profits were nowhere near that.
She won’t budge so it seems like my only option is to pay her because the IP complaint has been on my account for over 3 months now.
Hi Eric, sorry to hear about the problem you’re struggling with. If the lady registered the TM (did you check if this is true?) then you’re left with little options. Yes, it’s best you resolved this with her to have the complaint removed, pay the money and move on. It’s good that the account isn’t suspended, but you can bet that Amazon will ask about this unresolved complaint if they ever looked at the account overall. If the $1K puts a strain on your finances right now, postpone but have this resolved later. And try to obtain confirmation from Amazon that the retraction was acknowledged on their end. Lately, they’ve only been confirming this when the Rights Owner states that the complaint was erroneous (and a lot of them refuse to do so, though in theory they’re willing to help)
Maria
Hello,
We have two products being closed by Amazon due to design patent infringement. By looking into the design patent from the rights owner, our products are clearly different in design and consumer can easily tell the difference. Besides, our products were developed and sold on Amazon before their patent file date.
How should we proceed with this case?
Thanks,
Mark
Hi, Mark,
I’m really sorry to hear that your products got suspended. I’m afraid that if you didn’t file first, it could prove difficult to get the listings up and running.
We can analyze your case and see how this can be fixed, so please send a request here and a member of our Services team will contact you as soon as possible: https://sellerengine.com/free-services-consultation-request-2/