Sellers who maintain storefronts on Amazon may become the target of IP violation notices, which can lead to severe sanctions such as delisting products, restrictions on the ability to list on Amazon, or suspension or revocation of one’s seller’s account. When your business receives an IP violation notice from Amazon, working with an experienced IP defense attorney can best help you protect your business’s rights, interests, and future success.
Common Amazon Intellectual Property Disputes
Sellers on Amazon may become parties to various types of intellectual property disputes, such as:
- Copyright infringement claims: Amazon listings may trigger copyright infringement claims if listings sell creative works protectable by copyright, such as books, music, TV programs, movies, or computer software.
- Trademark infringement claims: An Amazon listing may face a trademark infringement claim if it uses an identical or confusingly similar trademark or trade dress, including brand names, logos, and distinctive visual appearances of products or packaging. Amazon maintains a program called the Amazon Brand Registry that allows trademark holders to register their marks with the company to facilitate automatic detection of infringing listings.
- Patent infringement claims: Amazon sellers may face IP disputes involving claims of infringement of utility or design patents. Utility patents cover the function or process of making an invention; utility patents cover the design or ornamentation of a product.
- Alleged counterfeit products: Sellers may face patent or trademark claims for selling goods that infringe upon design products or use a company’s trademarks or trade dress.
- Unauthorized reseller/grey market products: Although the first seller doctrine allows a buyer of a copyrighted work to resell that work, the doctrine does not extend to the sale of genuinely pre-owned copies of work or to unauthorized copies of works made from genuine products. Sellers may face IP claims if they sell products acquired through various channels without the authorization of the legitimate seller or IP holder.
Responding to Amazon IP Complaints
When one of your Amazon listings receives an IP claim from a purported intellectual property rights holder, you can take various steps to put yourself in the best position to respond to the complaint and protect your rights and options. Responding to an Amazon IP complaint may involve steps such as:
- Understanding Amazon’s complaint process: You can review Amazon’s seller rules and guidelines to understand your rights and options during the IP complaint process, including what sanctions you may face and how you may respond to or contest the IP violation allegation.
- Reviewing the details of the violation notice: Read Amazon’s violation notice carefully to understand what action(s) Amazon has taken against your listing or marketplace, the nature of the alleged IP violation, and details about the party who filed the complaint against your listing.
- Contact the complaining party for verification: You can contact the party who filed the complaint against your Amazon listing to verify their alleged intellectual property rights, such as a copy of the party’s copyright/trademark registration or patent.
- Gathering evidence: You can also gather documentation and evidence establishing your right to sell your product(s), such as copies of your IP registrations or licensing agreements.
- Seeking legal counsel: Talk to an IP attorney to understand the claim made against you, the strength of your case to contest the claim, and your options for moving forward.
Defending Against False or Malicious IP Claims
Parties may file false or malicious IP claims against your Amazon listings for various reasons, either due to an honest mistake about your listing violating the party’s IP rights, an effort to gain a competitive advantage over you on Amazon, or as part of a strategy to extract legal or financial concessions from your business. Defending against wrongful IP claims against your Amazon storefront may involve strategies that include:
- Identifying competitors or other parties with a reputation for filing fraudulent complaints
- Submitting a response to Amazon contesting the violation notice with evidence undermining the complaining party’s claim or establishing your right to the IP
- Seeking legal representation to understand your rights and options, including when the circumstances warrant pursuing legal action against a complaining party or Amazon
Enforcing Your Intellectual Property Rights on Amazon
Amazon sellers can also become victims of IP infringement by other sellers on the platform. An intellectual property attorney can help you protect your IP rights while selling on Amazon by:
- Handling the process of registering your copyrights, trademarks, and patents
- Assisting you with adding your business to Amazon’s Brand Registry to protect your marks
- Searching for and filing complaints against counterfeit products and unauthorized sellers of genuine, gray-market products
- Representing you during IP disputes with Amazon, including helping you navigate Amazon’s Neutral Patent Evaluation process to resolve patent infringement claims
Why Work with an Amazon IP Defense Attorney?
Upon receiving an IP violation notice about your product listing on Amazon, you may face the substantial resources of Amazon and the organizations whose IP rights your listing allegedly violated. Working with an experienced IP defense lawyer can help level the playing field so you can stand up for your interests and fight for the best possible resolution to your situation. An attorney can help you respond to an IP notice on your Amazon listing by:
- Reviewing Amazon’s IP compliance policies and helping you understand how those policies apply to your listing(s)
- Developing legal strategies to protect your Amazon marketplace from potential IP infringement claims
- Ensuring compliance while selling products on Amazon, including continuously reviewing your listings and active patents, trademarks, or copyrights for potential infringement issues
- Representing your business during disputes with Amazon and IP holders or during subsequent infringement litigation
Contact Our Amazon Intellectual Property Defense Lawyers
Contact The Keleher Appellate Law Group today for a confidential consultation with our IP litigation attorneys to discuss your options for a favorable resolution to an IP dispute involving your Amazon listings.
The Keleher Appellate Group, LLC, serves clients in Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, and the surrounding areas in Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Colorado. We also provide our services nationwide and internationally.