Best-selling product line taken down by fraudulent, black-hat patent violation claims
Hey y’all, this is my first post here on Seller Forums, but I’m at my wit’s end currently and need some help from the community.
Long story short, our private label, best-selling product line was taken down due to a “patent infringement” being targeted by a known competitor of ours (literally got an email with their info in it). We have our own design patent for this particular product line, and I have appealed this via Account Health multiple times. During these appeals, I have submitted the following documents thinking it would be more than enough to prove the report was fraudulent:
- Our own design patent from the USPTO which very clearly illustrates our product line (this is held by our manufacturer and we have rights to sell it)
- A written analysis that states all the design differences, line by line, between the two patents (ours, and the patent we supposedly “infringed” upon
- A letter of authorization from our manufacturer (the patent holder) that we have exclusive rights to sell and distribute our patented product line in the US
They are requesting one of two potential forms of documentation to get us reactivated, both of which I feel are completely unreasonable since we’ve done nothing wrong while Amazon failed to correctly enforce intellectual property rights:
- “A court order stating you are allowed to sell the products and hence are not violating Amazon policy for each of the listings mentioned in the deactivation notification.” - This is ridiculous and will take months and likely many thousands of dollars.
- “Work directly with the rights owner who reported the violation to submit a retraction. We may only accept retractions that the rights owner submits to us directly. We do not accept forwarded or attached retractions.” - The person who reported us would never retract their submission, which I’m sure has netted them substantial market share. I don’t believe it’s even worth sending a cease and desist letter, or engaging our IP lawyer. Or rather, I shouldn’t be forced to do this for something so obvious.
Like most of you, I don’t feel heard by support but this is on another level completely. Of course I’ve dealt with my fair share of these random problems over the years of selling, but this one has me seriously considering pulling all of our products out of Amazon. For it to be so easy for a black-hat seller to take down our product line when we are totally in the right, makes it extremely disheartening to continue. This business is not only my family and I’s livelihood, but our employees and contractors that work with us as well.
It’s worth noting that we are brand registered, have perfect account health history, etc. and have tried actually getting on the phone with folks multiple times already as well.
Any feedback or advice on how to get our ASINs reinstated is greatly appreciated. Thank you all!
Best-selling product line taken down by fraudulent, black-hat patent violation claims
Hey y’all, this is my first post here on Seller Forums, but I’m at my wit’s end currently and need some help from the community.
Long story short, our private label, best-selling product line was taken down due to a “patent infringement” being targeted by a known competitor of ours (literally got an email with their info in it). We have our own design patent for this particular product line, and I have appealed this via Account Health multiple times. During these appeals, I have submitted the following documents thinking it would be more than enough to prove the report was fraudulent:
- Our own design patent from the USPTO which very clearly illustrates our product line (this is held by our manufacturer and we have rights to sell it)
- A written analysis that states all the design differences, line by line, between the two patents (ours, and the patent we supposedly “infringed” upon
- A letter of authorization from our manufacturer (the patent holder) that we have exclusive rights to sell and distribute our patented product line in the US
They are requesting one of two potential forms of documentation to get us reactivated, both of which I feel are completely unreasonable since we’ve done nothing wrong while Amazon failed to correctly enforce intellectual property rights:
- “A court order stating you are allowed to sell the products and hence are not violating Amazon policy for each of the listings mentioned in the deactivation notification.” - This is ridiculous and will take months and likely many thousands of dollars.
- “Work directly with the rights owner who reported the violation to submit a retraction. We may only accept retractions that the rights owner submits to us directly. We do not accept forwarded or attached retractions.” - The person who reported us would never retract their submission, which I’m sure has netted them substantial market share. I don’t believe it’s even worth sending a cease and desist letter, or engaging our IP lawyer. Or rather, I shouldn’t be forced to do this for something so obvious.
Like most of you, I don’t feel heard by support but this is on another level completely. Of course I’ve dealt with my fair share of these random problems over the years of selling, but this one has me seriously considering pulling all of our products out of Amazon. For it to be so easy for a black-hat seller to take down our product line when we are totally in the right, makes it extremely disheartening to continue. This business is not only my family and I’s livelihood, but our employees and contractors that work with us as well.
It’s worth noting that we are brand registered, have perfect account health history, etc. and have tried actually getting on the phone with folks multiple times already as well.
Any feedback or advice on how to get our ASINs reinstated is greatly appreciated. Thank you all!
6 respuestas
Seller_edm5akbMrIfED
@Jim_Amazon @Rose_Amazon @Stevie_Amazon @Emet_Amazon @Steve_Amazon
Mindy_Amazon
Hi @Seller_edm5akbMrIfED
Thank you for your post, this is Mindy from Amazon here to assist.
I value your initiative in seeking assistance from this community. Regarding your inquiry, it seems that your listing is encountering issues related to Intellectual Property Complaints, particularly concerning patents.
Your steps on submitting documents to establish ownership rights, such as your patent number and a letter of authorization for selling the product, is indeed accurate. If this is your initial submission, I would also advise submitting the same set of documents.
Upon receiving rejection of these documents, the relevant team presented you with two options. I understand that collaborating directly with the "right owner" isn't feasible in your situation, given that this originates from a competitor. Therefore, the only recourse to reclaiming this listing is to engage your legal department in pursuing a court order.
Typically, proving the right to sell and ownership of the patent would be sufficient. However, in your case, the team specifically requires a court order, indicating that the other party has also presented legal documentation. I could only suggest this much insight, unfortunately, due to confidentiality reasons, we lack the ability to verify legal documents from our end.
I suggest working closely with your legal department and initiating contact with this individual through legal channels. While it may not be the desired solution, it appears to be the only viable option at this juncture.
It's genuinely disheartening to learn about your frustration with the support experience, particularly given its impact on your business and livelihood. We are striving to assist within the framework of rules and expectations to the best of our ability.
I hope this guidance pushes you towards resolution. Let us know how can we assist from this point onward.
The forums community and I are here to support you.
Regards,
Mindy
