We removed some of your listings because we received a report from a rights owner that they may infringe the rights owner’s intellectual property rights. The rights owner communication about the alleged infringement and the listings we removed are below.
Why did this happen?
We received a report from a rights owner alleging that one or more of your listings have been imported into the European Economic Area (EEA) without consent. Rights owners may use their intellectual property rights to prevent distribution into the EEA of genuine branded goods sourced outside of the EEA. The EEA currently consists of the European Union countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. To maintain a trusted marketplace, we take immediate action to address rights owner complaints regarding infringements of their intellectual property rights.
We purchased our product from their brand distribution partners ( not imported) and we had the consent of brand agent that we can sell this product on Amazon.
We called brand owner to recall this IP Complain but they say that do not know about this complain.
We have invoice from distributor, Can we appeal this IP with invoice? It`s clearly see that we have not made parallel import.
Did the distributor tell you in writing that you are allowed to sell in the EU? “Allowed to sell on Amazon” is not enough, it needs to be “allowed to sell in the EU”
Brands can make restrictions abut where their products can be sold so if you don’t have permission, you need to stop selling that item in the EU.
We had the consent of the agent who works for the brand, he was asked before if this product has any exclusivity and he confirmed that it does not.
There are probably more complicated indoor games and somehow some employees have politicized the sale of this ASIN on Amazon, and have some contacts to block others sellers, which is not normal.
I will contact the general manager of the company, surely he does not know what is happening.
As i know cannot put exclusivity on a product that is also sold in distributors, I have the right to sell my purchased goods wherever I want and that it`s also Amazon policy confirmed by seller support.
I am sorry to hear that you received an Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Complaint. These parallel import complaints, just like any other complaints are best handled by legal means.
If the inventory has been legitimately obtained, then you would be able to obtain compensation from whomever submitted the complaint.
What is Amazon asking you to provide in order to reactivate the listing? Do you have any options?
hello,
This is the documents that amazon asking to provide but we dont have Appeal button and in our account. We can not see that we have IP complain in our Policy Compliance page. its all with 0 100% in good condition.
We have legitimately obtained the product.
We can provide supply chain of product like this:
Invoice from producer ( the one who made the complaint) > Our distributor ( invoice) > our company invoice.
So we can prove the traceability of the product from the manufacturer to distributor and after to us.
We called the mentioned person, the one who made the complaint, and he told us that he doesn’t know anything about this complaint. It is certainly abusively protecting a seller who politicized this listing.
I want to mention that this product was added by us to the Amazon catalog many years ago, then we left the sale of Wholesale products to take care of the Private Label part of the company.
How do I reactivate my listing?
You are required to provide written evidence that the product you are selling for the ASIN(s) have been authorized for import into the EEA with the rights owner’s consent. Please include one of the following:
– Copies of invoices from your EEA-based supplier issued in the last 180 days. These should reflect your sales volume during that time and contain your supplier’s contact information, including name, phone number, address, and website.
– Copies of product importation documents (e.g., EU customs clearance documents, commercial invoices) issued to you or your supplier in the last 180 days. These should reflect your sales volume during that time and contain your supplier’s contact information, including name, phone number, address, and website.
– A written authorization letter from the rights owner, issued to you;
– A written authorization letter from the rights owner, issued to your supplier. In this case, also include copies of invoices or receipts from your supplier issued in the last 180 days. These should reflect your sales volume during that time and contain your supplier’s contact information, including name, phone number, address, and website.
We have opened a case with seller support and we have received this message.
We have attached the documents in the case.
"Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
Your email has been received and we have noted that you have contacted us regarding the IP complain from the right owner for the infringement of ASIN : XXXX.
As per your request, we suggest you to contact the rights owner directly and share all the required information with the Rights owner. As we at Selling Partner Support do not have access to contact the owner on your behalf.
Please reach out to the rights owner and ask for a retraction of the notice.
Note- To retract the complaint, the rights owner must send the retraction to us at [email protected] or use the retraction function in Brand Registry.
These are the rights owner’s contact details:
– ________
– [office@____"
While brands can decide whom they sell their products, any restrictions impacting where the products are eventually sold are very limited. Unless there is a direct contractual agreement between the buyer and the supplier stating that the goods won’t be resold in specific markets, then the seller is free to sell them anywhere.
All the brand can possibly do is to stop supplying the products. Selling merchandise to a reseller who makes the purchase in good faith and then reporting them, causing their goods to be blocked / Amazon Seller Account impacted gives rise to a legally pursuable claim.
If you don’t have an appeal button, wait 1-2 days before the defect / complaint appears on your Account Health Dashboard, where you can submit the appeal.
How can a brand restrict us as long as we can buy their product from countless authorized distributors.
In the worst case, I can block the product from being sold on Amazon at all, I cannot block only a certain seller.
As Kika say : " Unless there is a direct contractual agreement between the buyer and the supplier stating that the goods won’t be resold in specific markets, then the seller is free to sell them anywhere."
We have purchase the products in good faith, from distributor.
Feel free to post here whenever you need any help. Also, it would be great if you invited any Amazon Seller friends to join this community, so we can help more.
Unfortunately, we were blocked from selling again. The reason being the same IP: parallel import.
I have already called this IP conflict successfully, but now it has been set again.
Can we stop these IP conflicts? As long as our products are compliant?
And amazon unblocked us.
Have you received a new complaint for the same ASIN?
The new block could be unrelated. There has been a wave of various restricted products and similar violations which caused many seller’s listings to become blocked.
I also had some ASINs blocked and then reinstated on their own.
The right owner made again IP Complain and our ASIN is blocked from sale.
This time is the 3rd time he has made IP complained to us, parallel import. (first time was appealed and second time was lifted automaticaly by amazon)
Now uploaded the previous invoices dated 28 May 2024 which helped us in the past to raise this IP complaint first and second, but unfortunately they were rejected this time. I do not understand why they are rejected this time. They are not over 180 days.
We have also new invoices from August and September that reflect our sales volume.
They were also sent, but in electronic format, extracted from the new invoicing rule from our country.(Efactura).
These are drawn without the stamp and signature, but they were rejected. (is it a possible reason for rejection that they are not stamped?)
I can go to my supplier to stamp them.
I am a little scared of this situation. I hope that these last invoices with stamp will not be rejected.
I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues with another Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Complaint from the same rights owner over the identical product.
Unfortunately, it seems like this will continue and at some point, it could lead to negative consequences against your selling account.
My recommendation is that you prepare a Letter Before Action and send it to the rights owner, requesting them to immediately withdraw the Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Complaint and to cease with trying to harm you on the platform.
Have you thought about this approach? As there is no guarantee Amazon will keep approving your appeals and invoices. This is a matter of luck.
Thank you for your answer.
I also tried the approach with the beneficiary of the brand, but without success.
They never answered our calls even though we informed them that it is an abuse to make these complaints as long as we are buyers in good faith and the product is from an authorized distributor.
By this, it politicizes and facilitates that this product is sold by only one seller.
