Beware! A large number of sellers have been maliciously complained of infringement? The listings have been removed from the shelves!

Since ancient times, competition is inevitable wherever there are people, and wherever there is competition, there is bound to be a test of human nature. As Hugo said: It is the human heart that releases infinite light, and it is also the human heart that creates boundless darkness.

The same is true on Amazon. Sellers are always competing with each other, and even vicious competition often occurs. There are endless vicious competition incidents such as exploiting Amazon loopholes, synchronizing ASIN to obtain reviews, etc., and sellers are simply unable to defend themselves. Look, in the past few days, those malicious sellers have made another move.

The product is clearly not infringing on copyright, but it is still being complained about for being a spoof?

Recently, a seller on the forum reported that one of his products, which had been selling steadily, had been complained by the same intellectual property agent , Pointerbp , for two years. This was the fifth time . The seller had successfully appealed the previous four times, but this time it was a bit difficult. The seller contacted Pointerbp by SMS, phone, Facebook and other means to ask him to withdraw the complaint, but Pointerbp did not respond.

  ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

The seller also mentioned that all of his products were not infringing, but their functions were the same as those of the other party . However, he still received complaints and received no effective response after contacting the property owner.

Soon after the post was published, many sellers responded that they had encountered the same situation and their listings had been removed due to infringement complaints.

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

Some sellers suggested that the seller should retaliate and make his competitors feel uneasy.

  ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

Some sellers also joked that the cross-word mantra for doing business on Amazon is: get screwed by others, screw others, and get screwed by Amazon.

  ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

It is not difficult to see from the sellers’ remarks that many sellers have become “accustomed” to this kind of vicious competition, and even advocate “tit-for-tat”.

It is understood that this is not the first time that Pointerbp has done this.

As early as 2018, many sellers reported that they had been complained about patent infringement by Pointerbp.

  ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

Pointerbp, the full name of which is Pointer Brand Protection, is a software company that will file infringement complaints on behalf of rights holders on the platform. Pointerbp claims that its software can automatically identify infringing products and counterfeits worldwide and resolve related infringement issues at one time.

According to the sellers, on the one hand, Pointerbp has indeed made certain contributions to the protection of intellectual property rights , but on the other hand, Pointerbp's style of "taking money to do things" has also harmed many innocent sellers.

So, how should sellers respond when faced with infringement complaints?

How Sellers Respond to Infringement Complaints

Combined with the sellers' comments, the following steps are summarized to deal with infringement complaints:

Step 1 : Check the specific content of the infringing email to see what specific infringement the email notification is about.

Step 2 : Check whether there is real infringement.

If the product is really infringing, you can go through the settlement process and contact the copyright owner, so there is no need for the third step.

Step 3 : If you clearly conclude that there is no infringement, you can choose to:

1. Contact the property owner or third-party complaint company and ask them to provide evidence of infringement or withdraw the complaint application;

2. Submit a complaint letter to Amazon.

Step 4 : After receiving Amazon’s response to the appeal letter, carefully follow Amazon’s requirements.

The above are a few steps mentioned by sellers on how to deal with infringement complaints.

Of course, in addition to intentional infringement and spoof complaints, sellers sometimes passively infringe on products due to lack of understanding of product information, which can lead to their listings being removed from the shelves. Some sellers are even sued for this. For example, some time ago, many sellers were sued by the brand Wham-O Holding Ltd for trademark infringement because of their sales of hula hoops, and suffered heavy losses.

Cross-border sellers all know that Amazon has always attached great importance to the protection of sellers’ intellectual property rights.

Therefore, we also recommend that sellers investigate whether the product has been patented before selecting products , and try not to sell products that have been patented, so as to avoid huge losses caused by listing removal or prosecution due to infringement. In addition, it is also very important to apply for patents for your products first to prevent this situation.

As Bacon said, no personal wealth can be the ultimate value of one's life. Competition is indispensable in the market, but the competition that the market needs is benign and well-intentioned. Vicious competition will only encourage bad market practices , thus leading to a vicious cycle.

I hope that those malicious sellers who choose to throw the blade in their hands to hurt other sellers will also think about the possibility that the knife will eventually turn into a boomerang and hurt themselves.

I wonder what the seller thinks about this malicious infringement complaint? Do you have any other good suggestions? Welcome to communicate in the comment area~