Our account was suspended. First is their response then our Appeal (POA).

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

AMAZON RESPONSE.

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. This could take up to 90 days. Please ship any open orders to avoid further impact to your account.

Why is this happening?

We have taken this measure because one or more of your product listings are in violation of Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy. Amazon previously alerted you of these issues through notifications sent to your email address on file on the ASINs below:

B09LM14RGB - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLFCBL8 - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLVWVKS - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLSCYFB - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLYPCKY - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLZQ6QH - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLR27Z3 - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLNT5ZX - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLPNB1B - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING), B09LLMM2DC - Potential Registered Design Misuse (LIGHTNING)

OUR APPEAL (PLAN OF ACTION)

Amazon POA

Amazon POA

Background:

We have thoroughly reviewed the violations and understand that it relates to using the term “lightning” which is both a design right and trademark owned by Apple, and misusing the design right within the ASINs above was a violation Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy. The title misrepresented the items and infringed on the design right. Although the lightning cable used in the ASINs is certified and authentic, and we do have authorization from the manufacturer, 123, to sell the product, using the term “lightning” in the title, images and listing descriptions violates Amazon's intellectual property policy due to its association with Apple's trademarked term. Amazon's policy is to prevent any potential confusion or misrepresentation of registered design rights and trademarked terms. We acknowledge that we should not have used the term “lightning” within the title, description of the listing as we do not have authorization from Apple and it is against Amazon’s policies. We will never relist these items or any product containing the design right of Apple on Amazon.

Root Cause:

The cause of the suspected intellectual property violations on the above ASINs was due to the following:

1. The title of the bundles for the ASINs above did not display the correct format.

a. The ASINs did not follow Amazon’s required format for bundles:

i. Ex: Our title was incorrectly formatted as follows:

1. Bemz iPhone 13 Pro Bundle: Mybat TUFF Armor Rugged Case (Black), Premium Glass Screen Protectors (2-Pack), USB-C to Lightning Cable (3.3ft/1m)

ii. The correct format should show [Main Product title] + “Bundle with” + [Bundle Component Summary] + “(# Items)” corrected below:

1. "Mybat TUFF Case for iPhone 13 Bundle with Screen Protectors and USB-C Cable (3 Items)"

b. Incorrect Brand/Brand Attribute

i. Our seller’s name, Bemz, was incorrectly used as the brand. This should have been “Mybat” which is the brand of the main product in the bundle.

ii. Using a seller’s name as the brand without the name being the brand on the packaging goes against Amazons Brand Name Policy.

2. The design right “lightning” was misused in the title and description of the product violating Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy

a. We are not authorized to use this design right anywhere in our listings on Amazon without direct approval from the design right owner, and the term should not have been used anywhere in our listing.

b. Our use of the term "Lightning" was intended to accurately describe the cable's compatibility with Apple devices and to provide customers with clear information. However, we now understand that this term is a violation of Amazon's trademark policy.

c. Since we did not obtain direct approval from Apple to use the term “lightning” in the listings, we infringed on their design right.

3. The upload of these ASINs on to Amazon was a mistake.

a. After the first violation, we already removed all ASINs with the design right “lightning” and followed the plan of action.

b. We unintentionally uploaded these bundles on Amazon using the same template used for other marketplaces. In our system prior to these violations, we imported templates using one system.

c. These listings were immediately deleted when we were made aware of the suspected intellectual property violations.

The root causes that allowed the mistake to occur are as follows:

1. Our team was not properly trained on Amazon’s title format, brand name policy, Product Bundling Policy, and Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policies.

2. We did not have direct authorization from the design right, Apple, to use their design right in our listing. Further details of the item in the ASIN’s above containing the design right “lightning” are as follows:

a. The lightning cables included in the above ASINs are authentic and certified with Apple and made by 123. 123 is an authorized manufacturer of Apple’s “Lightning” 8-pin cable listed in the affected ASIN’s, and we are an authorized reseller of 123.

b. The design right used in our listings for the 8-pin lightning cables are certified and verifiable on Apple on (insert website cant post links). The UPC for the lightning cable in the listings is 0000000000, and it can be verified with Apple using that link.

c. Although we have authorization from the manufacturer, 123, to sell the item they have authorization for, we do NOT have the approval from Apple to use their design right on Amazon.

3. Utilizing one system to generate listings across multiple marketplaces allowed for the oversight and upload of these ASINs on to Amazon.

Corrective Actions:

1. We deleted all ASIN’s with the design right “lightning” owned by Apple immediately after receiving the suspected intellectual property violations.

2. We reviewed all inventory and ASINs to ensure no other terms or design rights were being misused in any other listing.

3. We reviewed all inventory and ASINs to ensure they were properly branded.

4. We reviewed Amazon’s trademark policies thoroughly and included this in our team training.

a. Our team went through vigorous training on Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policies for Sellers, Bundling Policies, title and listing guidelines. Prior to working on any more listings, all team members were evaluated on these policies.

5. Inventory and Supplier Verification:

a. We reviewed all our inventory to verify that we had proper authorization for each item, and we removed all items from our inventory that we were not able to obtain letter of authorization.

b. We reviewed each Supplier and chose to only keep the trusted suppliers we were able to verify had authentic product, registered brands, and good record.

6. Team Training:

a. We reviewed all Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy and trademark policies.

b. We addressed the inventory upload issue with our team and provided thorough training to our team on Amazon-specific policies through Seller University.

c. Detailed training on Amazon’s bundling policy and listing quality.

7. We removed Amazon from our auto template filling system across all Marketplaces. Amazon templates will be created individually using its own template, and only one employee is dedicated to Amazon listings. Any upload templates are also reviewed by myself, the owner, before the final upload occurs.

Preventative Measures:

We are committed to preventing this issue from happening in the future and have already implemented the following measures into our business practices to ensure continuous compliance.

1. Enhanced Employee training on Amazon policies and our New Inventory Upload System:

a. Our employees received complete training on Amazon’s Policies through 6 meetings from January 7, 2022 to February 11, 2022. These meetings consisted of a thorough review of Amazon’s intellectual property policies, listing policies on Amazon, and Account Health Policies under Seller University.

b. The employee who will be solely responsible for Amazon listing creation as well as myself have completely reviewed Amazon’s Policies and Seller University during the week 8/21/23 – 8/25/23 so we are up-to-date and refreshed on all policies and updated policies since we have last listed on Amazon.

c. Prior to our first inventory file upload on to Amazon, all employees will undergo Amazon Policies training again as well as our new system for uploading items on to Amazon.

2. Cross-reference trademarks, design rights, terms through trademark justia and other sites.

a. We now use this site to verify any design rights/trademarks such as “lightning” to ensure we are not using any registered design rights/trademarks in our images, titles, descriptions.

b. For example, we reviewed all of Samsung’s trademark policies on their website as well as through trademarkias website prior to listing any compatible with accessories. We understand that we are not able to use any of Samsung’s design rights within our listings which includes the term “Samsung”.

3. Verification of product authentication and authorization from our sources:

a. We source our items from verifiable and trustworthy Suppliers that we first research and undergo an interview with us.

b. We purchase directly from the manufacturer of the brand when possible, or we go directly through the authorized distributors of the manufacturer.

i. For example, we purchase directly from Mybat Int’l who is the brand owner of BC brand. We have direct authorization from Mybat Int’l to sell their brand on all ecommerce sites and well as in store.

ii. We choose distributors directly from the manufacturers list of authorized dealers, and we obtain authorization to resell the product from the manufacturer and distributor.

c. We never purchase from a Supplier that isn’t verified and has an established, well reviewed business. We never resell product/brands that have not been verified, received full authorization to resell, and tested for quality.

4. New System for Amazon Listing Uploads:

a. Amazon ASIN’s will be created using Amazon’s upload template, and they will be uploaded using the Excel file that is used only for Amazon.

b. Our new business plan for ecommerce on Amazon is to only list single items with one brand per listing on Amazon using the Amazon specific template. We no longer bundling items to prevent any confusion and make a simpler listing process. Although our team has been well trained on Amazon’s bundling policy and are confident with creating bundles, we have decided to change to single items only for simplicity and less confusion.

c. All inventory templates for Amazon will be dedicated to one employee only who has been well-trained on all of Amazon’s policies.

d. Final approval by myself, the owner, is required prior to the final inventory upload on to Amazon.

5. Continuous Monitoring and Training:

a. Account Health and “Policy Comliance” will be monitored daily, and we will address immediately any issues that could lead to unsatisfactory metrics on Amazon.

b. Quality Control Checks: We have implemented several quality controls checks prior to any ASIN upload which include reviewing the product brand, title, images, descriptions of each ASIN prior to final upload.

c. Policy Review Sessions: To ensure ongoing compliance, we have started regular policy review sessions for our team. These meetings are intended to discuss and review any updates to Amazon’s policies and review important policies such as “branding”, “listing quality”. This added step guarantees that our team remains up-to-date with your guidelines.

Thank you for the opportunity to sell on Amazon’s platform again, and we look forward to working with Amazon to resolve this matter.