Intellectual Property Rights Vs. Seller Rights
eCommerce sellers are now finding themselves facing a whole new type of issue. Manufacturers and brand owners are making it hard for online sellers to stay in business by filing complaint through Amazon, eBay, or other marketplaces.
Have you received an intellectual property violation for selling brand new, as described products? If so, you are not alone. Whereas before manufacturers would strive to find and single out the sellers who were breaking the law and selling counterfeit or inauthentic goods, now commonly they are focusing on finding sellers who are “not authorized” distributors of the product. This means that if the seller is not licensed and authorized by the manufacturer, they may face these types of issues for selling their products. The manufacturers feel that this will reduce or eliminate gray market goods, and as well will force retailers to be authorized by them, and subject to their “MAP” pricing.
If you are an individual retailer, and selling goods for which you are not licensed to sell, this could happen to you. You may want to start by thoroughly reading any restrictions or limitations by the marketplace as well as fully understanding the condition guidelines. We strongly recommend you read the product warranty thoroughly and carefully as many manufacturers disclaim the warranty if it is not purchased from an authorized reseller, thereby your customer would have no warranty available to them and the listing would be against some marketplace policies such as Amazon which requires a manufacturer warranty on all new goods. This could cause complications for you if you are the merchant and receive this complaint as they would argue the item therefore is “not as described” and manufacturers are doing many test buys.
In these instances one successful and frequent argument revolves around the first sale doctrine and the privileges that are protected by it. If you have extra time you may want to read into this.
Our quick tips in such situations:
First – make sure you’re your products are as described, pictured, and the listing details are accurate.
Second – should you find yourself in this predicament do not be quick to respond before consulting with an attorney to give you proper guidance on how to address the matter.
Third – Don’t ignore this type of issue! It scarcely goes away and you want to deal with it in a reasonable time to avoid the opposing party from filing a complaint with Amazon and jeopardizing your selling privileges.
Remember – we at LA Law Group can and will help. Reach our team today for assistance.
