How do I stop others from listing on my brand, but not selling my brand?
I went through all the hoops to file my brand with the USPTO and get the brand approved by Amazon, and give myself exclusive rights to sell it, but these other people who listed using my brand listing are still selling under my listing and Amazon won't do anything about it.
What's the point of having a brand? I was under the impression that you could limit who could 'sell your brand' -- not that these people ARE selling my brand, they are just shirt-tailing off my listing. I can't report them as counterfeit, because I'm sure if I ordered their products, I would NOT GET anything resembling my brand, so they aren't counterfeiting, they are just misrepresenting what they are selling? (and there are about ten of them, so I'd have to order from ALL OF THEM, and most get reviews of 'product did not arrive')
How do I stop this? I have contacted Amazon NUMEROUS TIMES, with every form I can find, and all I get is form letters and zero action. Amazon will do nothing.
I'm sure if I tried listing my products under PARK SEEDS listing, I'd get slapped right down. Amazon says they want to help build our brands, but they do NOTHING help us protect them.
How can I get my brand back from these hijackers? Any ideas?
How do I stop others from listing on my brand, but not selling my brand?
I went through all the hoops to file my brand with the USPTO and get the brand approved by Amazon, and give myself exclusive rights to sell it, but these other people who listed using my brand listing are still selling under my listing and Amazon won't do anything about it.
What's the point of having a brand? I was under the impression that you could limit who could 'sell your brand' -- not that these people ARE selling my brand, they are just shirt-tailing off my listing. I can't report them as counterfeit, because I'm sure if I ordered their products, I would NOT GET anything resembling my brand, so they aren't counterfeiting, they are just misrepresenting what they are selling? (and there are about ten of them, so I'd have to order from ALL OF THEM, and most get reviews of 'product did not arrive')
How do I stop this? I have contacted Amazon NUMEROUS TIMES, with every form I can find, and all I get is form letters and zero action. Amazon will do nothing.
I'm sure if I tried listing my products under PARK SEEDS listing, I'd get slapped right down. Amazon says they want to help build our brands, but they do NOTHING help us protect them.
How can I get my brand back from these hijackers? Any ideas?
45 respuestas
Seller_9Uf78DYSZ2lcW
Go into your Brand site on Brand Registry and see about reporting them then. You should be able to report them as counterfeit without a test buy if you don't wholesale your product anywhere and your Company with the Amazon Store is the Only Authorized seller.
Now I don't have experience doing this as I don't have brand registry.
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
Have you tried using Report a violation ?
If you have access to this tool, then put in the ASIN in the search box. When the item comes up, open up the drop down to show the offers on the item. The ones that you are not your offers click the check box next to those sellers and then upper right select Trademark Infringement.
If there is a comment box, put in that you do not sell wholesale therefore these can not be the same as your item.
If there isn't a comment box but creates a case, then go to the case and see if you can provide additional details in which you would again explain that you do not sell wholesale ... etc ...
Jameson_Amazon
Hi @Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6,
Sorry to hear about this! I see you have already received some great advice and insights from other Sellers in the replies here - so happy to see!
If you haven't done so already, please submit a claim using the Report Abuse tool right here.
Also, when you have a moment, please send me your case IDs for this and I'd be happy to look into this further and see where I can help!
Thanks so much,
Jameson
Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6
So, If I'm understanding correctly, I need to make the main photo to be a photo of my seed packaging rather than the flower, which these other sellers are not providing. And then the only thing I can do is do test buys and report these others as 'not as described' and hope that Amazon removes them until my TM is approved. So I really have no protection until the TM is approved by the USTPO . Even though I've made it clear on my brand that NO ONE else is authorized to sell it.
This is extremely frustrating, as you can imagine. The Amazon advertising for how they want to help us "build our brands" is quite misleading about how little they will actually do to help us protect our brands. They even have pages which tell me that they are PROTECTING MY BRAND. What is this about? How are they protecting my brand if they won't take reports from me or stop unauthorized people from selling it?
I understand it's not approved yet by the USPTO, but at the same time, I have filed, paid the money, and proved who I am. I really hope that Amazon will reconsider their stance on this in the future. Their brand registry pages are EXTREMELY MISLEADING. They say they are PROTECTING MY BRAND but they will not protect it when I report a violation, or tell them I am the only one allowed to sell it.
Side note- I don't believe these numbers they are spewing out here at all. They are ridiculously high, especially considering I didn't even register my brand until the first week of April.
Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6
I do thank you for looking into this and all this information. No one else has explained this, and, quite the contrary, the Amazon advertising for 'build a brand' is quite misleading. So, thank you for the explanation.
Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6
Just as an aside. I notice that PARK SEED does not have photos of their packages on their listings, but just the plant/flower/veggie. but they are being protected from counterfeits. I hope the reason is that they have a fully registered trademark and I hope that when mine is fully registered I will be afforded the same privileges as the 'big guys'.
Seller_S6Ub6ZVEM8E6q
It's probable because your brand is registered in the US so they will allow these things to happen in other marketplaces, sighting the fact that you are not registered in that particular country even though the brand registry claims to give you protection in multiple markets when you register your brand with them, the thing is if these sellers are selling fake items under the same listing that is registered in one unified market wouldn't it be common sense that they will be selling the same fake goods under that same brand's listing in a different marketplace? Amazon does not care though because they make a profit from each sale and you as the brand owner have to go through all these extra headaches to try to resolve these issues and keep your brand reliable and reputable to the customer and hope that you don't face any legal issues from this. I will attempt to point out the fact that they are knowingly allowing fake counterfeit items to be sold to customers to their legal department and see if that gets you anywhere. I PERSONALLY THINK AMAZON JUST WANT YOU TO PAY THEM EVEN MORE TO $$$ TO GIVE US PROTECTION BY PAYING FOR ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR PROGRAMS.
Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6
Jameson, I followed your advice, updated the photos to show MY seed packages and have done test buys. I then reported these using the REPORT ABUSE tool you linked.
This was my report (provided order id on the report)
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The product description and photos indicate these seeds are the brand Onalee's Seeds and come with planting instructions, including a color photo of a seedling. The seeds I received are in a plastic ziplock with no planting instructions, no seedling id, and are not branded from Onalee's Seeds. They in no way resemble the promised package that is shown and described on Amazon.
This product, from seller due_west_book_store is not the product described on this ASIN.
----------------------------------------
I got this reply back from Amazon via email (no reply email account):
-----------------------------
Thank you for your report. We need more information to continue the investigation. Please provide the following details:
Hello ,
Thank you for your report. We need more information to continue the investigation. Please provide the following details:
-- The ASINs of the products.
-- Order ID.
-- Link to the product detail page.
-- The marketplace.
-- The seller you are reporting, if applicable.
-- Images showing the MRP of the product as advertised by the manufacturer, if applicable.
-- The official manufacturer price, if applicable.
-- Legal notice or court order, if applicable.
-- Original ASIN, if reporting variation abuse or duplicate ASINs.
-- Describe the specific concern that you have with the listing or the product detail page. For example, a seller added incorrect variations to game product reviews, or the product is being sold as new, but it is used.
The details can be submitted by going into your account and going to the “Report Abuse” section.
You can learn more about your account health in the Performance section of Seller Central:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_mpa
ASIN: B01IPJQCOK
Complaint ID: 12658864931
----------------------------------------------
I don't understand this request for the order id and asin, because that was given in the original complaint and they clearly HAVE IT there in the response. Also, they can find all the other information they want , like a link to the product, if they look at the order. Additionally, when I go into the report abuse section, I see no way to provide ADDITIONAL details or attach a photo of the product received. I can file ANOTHER complaint, but see no way to ADD ON to this one or give them a photo. I looked at my CASE LOG also, and this complaint is not there.
What should I do?? Help! How do I send them a photo when that is not an option in REPORT ABUSE.
Jameson_Amazon
Thanks for reaching out about this,@Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6.
I am not sure why you're not able to respond to the case ID. I have escalated this internally to see if a potential glitch is going on here. That team may create a new case, so please be on the lookout for that. And of course, I'll let you know once I hear any updates on this!
Additionally with report a violation tools, there is some duplicate information needed from sellers, although ASIN and order ID information is logged in. Seller Support will still need this information to complete the investigation. Although it may feel redundant, please provide all the information that is being asked.
I will be in touch once I hear back from the team, and please let me know if you receive any updates on your end. :)
I hope you have a great weekend,
Jameson
Seller_rKS40mXHfmhh6
Thank you for looking into this.
THREE HUGE problems with them asking for me to submit more information on the 'REPORT ABUSE' tool is:
1) They ask for photos. There is no mechanism on that tool for attaching photos.
2) They ask for a lot of information. That form has limited characters and it doesn't all fit.
3) Once you submit there, you can't find it anywhere. It's not in a case log, it's not in the brand registry cases. It just goes away. I can't find anywhere to access the history of any case with the REPORT ABUSE tool.
I keep submitting the 'more information needed' on the form where I began these cases in brand registry because that is the only place I can attach the photos they request.
Case numbers there:
12681869791
12681407141
12681157771
12681246051
12681133771
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
ONALEE'S SEEDS - 97879252 Word Mark - USPTO
Not Valid For Reporting Counterfeit
The system will not let you report your own offer. You have to check only the offer which is not yours. Are you doing it as shown below?
Select like this
Then this and selecting Trademark infrigement
Then this and selecting the issue in the last box and finally submit ...
Is this the process by which you are submitting?
It would need to be done the same way for each individual listing.
ONALEE'S SEEDS - 97879252 Word Mark - USPTO
Not Valid For Reporting Counterfeit
NOTE:
The way we have shown you above is the way you would report. However, we looked up your trademark and can see that it was just accepted by USPTO on April 8, 2023. Your trademark is in the process of being registered but is in the very early time frame. Amazon is saying that the trademark is not valid for reporting counterfeit as it is not fully registered (which for you will possibly be 9 to 15 months away depending on how the publication goes and when that happens).
What you will have to do is a test buy of each of the offers, take pictures of the items (front & back) when received and then report the items as not being as described. Do not leave feedback on the seller when you do this ... just request a return/refund for the reason item not as described.
Seller_UnP3MVhzdhAYg
I received the same trouble as you, this kind of behavior is legal in the opinion of Amazon, and the only way to really solve the problem is to join the Zero Plan or Transparency Plan after your brand has completed registration.
I can't even fathom that it would be a serious disservice to my own brand when a customer buys a product from elsewhere and leaves a very poor review on my brand.
Seller_6ldIAceJDEcT2
Look into Amazon transparency where you get individual codes for your items. Fixed my problem!
Seller_d8D4CAiGdnCw9
We have the exact same thing happening. Im really concerned about review trickling in and attaching to our ASIN for a product thats completely not ours!
Seller_S6Ub6ZVEM8E6q
Please let me know if you ever find the answers because I'm in the same situation, I asked numerous times if the brand registry isn't supposed to be giving us protection from this when you register with them, but they pick n choose who they allow to violate your brand and will ignore the fact that the hijacker is selling fake items and potentially dangerous product to kids
