Sanctioned by the platform for defending rights? Brand abuse is frequent, how should sellers file complaints correctly?

It was learned that recently in a cross-border e-commerce forum, an Amazon seller complained that his brand had previously filed a complaint against an infringing seller in another store but was unsuccessful. Now when registering a new store, he was prompted with a message that there was brand abuse. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and now he did not know how to appeal.

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

In fact, situations like the above-mentioned sellers are not uncommon nowadays, and the reason why the platform determines that it is brand abuse is that the sellers’ complaint success rate is too low.

It is learned that due to the increasingly fierce malicious competition on the Amazon platform, there are more and more despicable behaviors of blocking rival product links through brand complaints. Many sellers rely on Amazon's sensitive intellectual property protection policy and use a large number of complaints to "draw prizes" in the absence of sufficient evidence. If one of them is successful, the competitor will suffer a fatal blow.

In response to such situations, the Amazon platform began to evaluate sellers' complaints. When the number of complaints is large and the success rate is low , the platform will consider that the seller is abusing the brand complaint function and will subsequently reject any brand registration application from the seller . In more serious cases, the platform will even cancel the seller's registered brand .

This measure can indeed reduce the endless malicious complaints between sellers to a certain extent, but it also causes headaches for some new sellers who lack experience in rights protection. Many people have suffered infringements but their complaints have been rejected. As the number of failures increases and they receive warnings from Amazon, they have to worry about whether their future operations will be affected.

It was also observed that a seller in the forum had asked for help: his pictures were stolen by a competitor, and because the pictures had been copyrighted, he filed a complaint against the other party on the grounds of photograph (image), but both complaints fell on deaf ears, and now he plans to continue complaining.

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

Different from previous comments that frequently offered advice, many people in the comment section advised the OP to be cautious in making complaints , because if the subsequent complaints were unsuccessful, he would most likely be the one in trouble.

How to file a correct complaint against infringement

In order to prevent unnecessary losses caused by brand abuse, we need to pay attention to many factors. Based on the seller's case, we summarize the following aspects:

1. Be well prepared when filing a complaint about infringement

When discovering that their brands have been stolen and infringed upon, many sellers are eager to protect their rights, resulting in insufficient evidence and confusing descriptions in their complaints. Although there is nothing wrong with complaining to Amazon as soon as possible, how to complain is a science. Before filing a complaint, you must make a thorough plan, focus on the key points, and not rush for quick results .

Regarding the content of the complaint, visual evidence such as copyright links, copyright images, etc. must be collected completely. The success rate will be higher if they are attached.

There are also various complaint channels: you can open a case to reflect directly; you can also complain on the brand registration page; eligible sellers can also appeal through Amazon's "Zero Plan".

2. Other reasons leading to brand abuse

• The store has engaged in false orders, fraud, infringement and other activities and has not dealt with them in a timely manner.
• The newly applied store already has more than five trademarks registered or whitelisted.
• The trademark was not applied for by the registrant himself, but was purchased, and this trademark violated regulations.

3. Complaint method for brand abuse

If the brand is really abused due to too many complaints, how should the seller appeal? It is understood that the materials that the seller needs to prepare are as follows:

• For private label products, you need to provide trademark registration certificate, trademark certificate, etc.
• Brand agents or distributors must provide a trademark authorization letter when selling products.
• Pictures of related products and packaging can clearly show the actual photos of the logo.
• Business license, purchase VAT invoice, production certificate, etc., sales link to the brand’s official website.

In addition, sellers can also organize past complaint cases and give examples to illustrate that their complaints are in line with their legitimate rights and interests rather than malicious complaints.