Design patent infringement claim
Hi all,
After selling on Amazon for 6 months, my only listing has been removed for patent infringement claim. There is indeed a patent, however, my product is completely different from the other seller. I have a legal counsel letter confirming that there is no infringement.
I contacted the violation claim owner, but I got no reply. I submitted a bunch of documentation to Amazon, including the proof of non-infringement issued by legal counsel, I explained how I got to this product, what is my action plan, what are the differences between the two products, but I keep on receiving the same copy paste reply:
"We received your submission but do not have enough information to reactivate your listing at this time. To reactivate your listing, please provide any one of the below documents for proving authenticity of your listings:
-- A retraction from the rights owner to be sent to Amazon directly. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
-- An invoice directly from rights owner to indicate that your products are original and are purchased from the rights owner directly. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
-- A court order, temporary restraining order, injunction or affidavit, or letter of non-infringement from legal counsel"
You know what is funny? They reply to me with "Dear Mr. Yang" - Mr. Yang being the person who made the complain. How am I supposed to believe that someone is reading my tickets and documents, when Amazon team don't even bother to make the difference between the person who made the complain and me?
As many of you, I invested a lot of effort, time and money into this business, committed to respect Amazon policies and to be compliant with the rules. Nevertheless, I am not heard and I get the impression that I am only speaking to a robot, not to a human being.
@Maja_Amazon, @Sonny_Amazon, @Desi_Amazon - please help me to escalate the issue.
Complaint ID: 13786889831
ASIN: B0BSY1VLJS
Thank you!
Design patent infringement claim
Hi all,
After selling on Amazon for 6 months, my only listing has been removed for patent infringement claim. There is indeed a patent, however, my product is completely different from the other seller. I have a legal counsel letter confirming that there is no infringement.
I contacted the violation claim owner, but I got no reply. I submitted a bunch of documentation to Amazon, including the proof of non-infringement issued by legal counsel, I explained how I got to this product, what is my action plan, what are the differences between the two products, but I keep on receiving the same copy paste reply:
"We received your submission but do not have enough information to reactivate your listing at this time. To reactivate your listing, please provide any one of the below documents for proving authenticity of your listings:
-- A retraction from the rights owner to be sent to Amazon directly. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
-- An invoice directly from rights owner to indicate that your products are original and are purchased from the rights owner directly. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.
-- A court order, temporary restraining order, injunction or affidavit, or letter of non-infringement from legal counsel"
You know what is funny? They reply to me with "Dear Mr. Yang" - Mr. Yang being the person who made the complain. How am I supposed to believe that someone is reading my tickets and documents, when Amazon team don't even bother to make the difference between the person who made the complain and me?
As many of you, I invested a lot of effort, time and money into this business, committed to respect Amazon policies and to be compliant with the rules. Nevertheless, I am not heard and I get the impression that I am only speaking to a robot, not to a human being.
@Maja_Amazon, @Sonny_Amazon, @Desi_Amazon - please help me to escalate the issue.
Complaint ID: 13786889831
ASIN: B0BSY1VLJS
Thank you!
2 replies
Stevie_Amazon
Hi there @Seller_ZNSUltSbJjhK9,
I hope this finds you well!
As the title of your thread conveys, I understand you have received a complaint for patent infringement. I also understand you have submitted a letter of non-infringement from your legal counsel. I would like to provide some insight into the policy as well as appeal expectations.
Intellectual property is held within high regard, as all sellers are required to follow state, federal, local laws in addition to Amazon policies. Any time a rights owner files a complaint, the policy violations will appear on the applicable seller's Account Health page. The violations and appeals are an opportunity for sellers such as yourself to provide your explanation and evidence you are not violating any intellectual property rights.
A patent is a form of legal protection for inventions. An issued patent grants its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing the invention into the United States for a fixed number of years.
Utility patents, which are the most common kind of patent, may be granted for a new machine, articles of manufacture, composition of matter, process, or improvement to any of those, and generally they will protect the structure and functions of a product without changing the overall look and design of the product. On the other hand. design patents may be granted for the unique look of a product, but do not cover the structure or functions of a product.
Was the violation you received a utility patent or a design patent?
If the letter of non-infringement is not accepted, I would urge you to provide as much information as possible in a submission and a thorough explanation of the issue at hand.
What have you already provided? How does your item different and not infringe on the patent in question?
You can view more information on patents and Amazon policy here.
The forums community and I are here to support you, so please continue to utilize this thread to ask further questions and provide updates on your situation.
All the best,
Stevie
