brand protection attorney

brand protection attorney

Unauthorized Seller Removal

ARE YOU LOSING REVENUE TO UNAUTHORIZED SALES ONLINE?
ESTABLISHING A LEGAL BASIS FOR UNAUTHORIZED SELLER
REMOVAL BEATING THE FIRST SALE DOCTRINE:

The First Sale Doctrine: Essentially, the First Sale Doctrine states that any party that legally purchases a product has the right to re-sell that product without risk of liability for intellectual property infringement. Thus, the first sale doctrine can sometimes protect unauthorized sellers from claims of infringement. Amazon and other e-commerce platforms do not take action in response to claims of violations of exclusive distribution agreements.

 

Our firm has helped many brands “beat the First Sale Doctrine” by creating distribution agreements or brand exclusive policies that build in mechanisms to create intellectual property disputes. For example, there is an exception to the first sale doctrine called the “material difference” exception. Products that are authentic, but “materially different” from manufacturer’s condition are not protected by the first sale doctrine. Courts have held that lack of manufacturer’s warranty or guarantee and failure to adhere to manufacturer’s quality control requirements constitute material differences. Some examples of quality controls are:

  • Temperature I Humidity controls for storage of products;
  • Batch checks to ensure products are not expired, defective, or damaged;
  • Restrictions on Commingling of Inventory at FBA;
  • Restriction on use of the FBA repackage and return feature;
  • Customer service training;
  • Ability to receive notice of and implement recalls;
  • Packaging requirements;
  • Labeling requirements;

HOW OUR LAW FIRM WORKS WITH BRANDS TO REMOVE UNAUTHORIZED SELLERS FROM AMAZON & OTHER E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS

Our First Step Is Getting To Know You And Your Brand. We Use Our Proprietary Tools Along With Manual (Real Human) Listing Monitoring To Onboard Your Brand To Our System, Identify Your ASINS, The Unauthorized Sellers, And A Plethora Of Other Metrics Needed To Effectively Control Your Amazon Sales And MAP Pricing.

Once We Begin, The Monitoring Does Not Stop. As C&D Letters Are Sent, Test Buys Are Placed, And Reports Of Infringement Are Submitted To Amazon, We Track And Catalog The Data Every Step Of The Way To Make Sure We Never Miss A Single Unauthorized Offer. Here Are Just A Few Of The Data Points Our System Currently Tracks:

1. ASIN
2. Seller
3. Selling Status By ASIN (Active Of Removed)
4. ASIN URL
5. C&D Sent Indicator
6. C&D Tracking Information
7. Test Buy Order Information (Order IDs, Delivery Dates, Etc.)
8. Amazon Complaint Submission History
9. Seller Contact Information (Names, Emails, Addresses)

Brand Protection Amazon has partnered with the nations top cyber forensics teams and obtains access to law enforcement only databases to offer the World’s greatest Unauthorized Seller Investigation tools available for Brands that sell on Amazon.
Using heightened investigation tools leads to long term results and avoids long term disputes. Our goal is to communicate effectively with Sellers to persuade them to voluntarily remove their unauthorized listings for your products. Identifying the individuals who operate an unauthorized seller account and the ability todetermine their residential addresses, telephone numbers. email addresses and social media accounts allows us to make meaningful contact and demonstrate the serious nature of their unlawful sales. Our experience in working with Amazon Sellers is UNMATCHED. We know how to communicate with sellers using language that is easy to understand and that obtains results.
The Importance of Well Written & Effective Brand Communications​ We do not believe in harming sellers unnecessarily. Once your brand is onboarded and all unauthorized sellers are identified, we always start our enforcement efforts with Cease & Desist letters. The easiest way to remove an unauthorized seller is by amicable means. Obtaining a seller’s voluntary agreement to stop selling your products provides the best long-term solution and avoids the need for test buys and complaint submissions to Amazon. Cease & Desist letters help preserve your brand’s reputation. We know that our clients have relationships with businesses on and off the Amazon platform. Our Enforcement team operates under the highest standards of professionalism to ensure that your Brand’s reputation is protected throughout the enforenent process.
  • Our first C&D letter is delivered to the address on file with Amazon for all identified unauthorized sellers This letter is our first contact with the unauthorized seller, it is polite, but firm and offers an opportunity for an Amicable Resolution
  • After all Identified Sellers receive our first C&D letter, we prepare a status report for the brand owner to demonstrate the success of our initial efforts in removing unauthorized sellers from your branded listings. Typically. 50-70% of unauthorized sellers comply with our first C&D letter, but results can vary.
  • A “deep dive” investigation is conducted next to further identify the remainine unauthorized Sellers (the following page discussed this step in further detail).
  • C&D #2 is then sent to all other points of contacts our deep dive investigation reveals. This letter is still polite, but slightly more aggressive and provides more detailed legal explanations as to why unauthorized sales are unlawful. An opportunity to resolve is still provided.
  • C&D #3 is our last resort for non compliant sellers before escalating to the other options discussed in this presentation. The setter provides in depth legal arguments, demands the removal of all offershond makes it clear that formal action will be taken if the seller does not comply remove their listings, and identify their sources).
  • Test buys are product orders placed on Amazon for your branded items offered by unauthorized sellers.
  • Test buys are important for several reasons, but the primary reason for test buys is that Amazon requires test buys are placed and delivered so the complaining party reporting infringement can provide evidence and / or an explanation to confirm the basis for certain types of allegations of intellectual property infringement reported on the platform
  • All test buys are placed from a secure Brand Protection Amazon account on behalf of your brand. Our goal is to identify the material differences found in the products sold by unauthorized Amazon sellers and help you provide and explain that evidence to Amazon when making report submissions.
  • We provide photographs of all test buys received for your records and work hand in hand with our brand partners to identify all potential claims against the Cruct received.
  • The Amazon platform is constantly changing and that requires brands to adapt and alter their strategies as these changes are implemented. However, working with our Brand Protection Amazon enforcement team provides the benefit of our unmatched experience in identification and navigation of Amazon brand enforcement trends. The volume of our business allows us to quickly identify what works and what doesn’t so that we can continuously obtain successful results for our clients.
  • The current Amazon Brand Enforcement landscape indicates that brands are seeing much higher success rates when complaints are submitted directly by the Brand or an employee of the brand. Amazon refers to this individual as the “rights owner“
  • We make the reporting process as easy as possible for our clients by providing weekly or bi-weekly Intellectual Property Report Submission “Toolkits to you and your brand. Our simplified data and instructive guides make reporting dozens to hundreds of listings a simple process for brand owners of all experience levels. The results will speak for themselves, and several submissions can be made in just minutes in most cases.
  • The Amazon platform is far from perfect, and unauthorized seller removal is typically an ongoing process. We call it “Sweeps,” or “Sweeping your listings.” Our experience dictates that regular enforcement is the best way to deter unauthorized sellers, and this remains true. Regular monitoring of your listings is key to ensure that newly identified unauthorized sellers are promptly addressed, investigated and ultimately removed from your listings. That is what we are here for.
  • Our processes are typically front loaded as the initial removal efforts normally require the most amount of time and effort. However, as we are successful and sellers are removed, our efforts usually become less time intensive and transition into the monitoring phase.
  • Ultimately, we aim for total removal of unauthorized sellers, but the nature of the Amazon platform makes that close to impossible. Still, our ongoing monitoring and swift removal process for newly identified sellers ensures that your brand and sales always remain protected at the highest level possible. Again, the results speak for themselves – we only have happy clients!

Submit a Case to Our Team or Call Us Now

Contact Us Today & Learn Why Rosenbaum, Famularo & Segall  is the Industry Standard for Successful Brand Protection & Intellectual Property Enforcement Online

The Brand Protection you need in an ever changing e-commerce market. 

 

Stop Infringing and Unauthorized Sellers selling your merchandise and stealing your sales and revenue. 

 

Our Firm Monitors Online Retail Platforms to ensure your brand and intellectual property rights are protected and properly enforced.

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