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What Is Amazon Infringement?
Amazon infringement is when a third-party item listing is a pirated or stolen product or infringes on a creator’s copyright/trademark.
This can apply to both tangible products and digital ones, like ebooks, music, audio, and video content.
With over 300 million active user accounts, there are millions of opportunities for thieves to steal original products and rip them off to make a profit.
Infringement is infringement, and Amazon's infringement is no different.
How to Report Intellectual Property Violations on Amazon
Luckily, it’s fairly easy to report an infringement on Amazon.
Here’s what you’ll need to do.
Identifying Type of Infringement
First, it’s important to identify what type of infringement the offending party may be guilty of.
This pertains to the type of content and how it was protected.
There are two main types of infringement that can happen on Amazon; copyright infringement and patent infringement.
Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement on Amazon refers to infringement of copyrighted material. This applies to things like music, written material like ebooks, and videos.
A few examples of what copyright infringement on Amazon would look like include:
Selling counterfeit books or eBooks.
Using copyrighted images, text, or videos in product listings without permission.
Distributing unauthorized copies of movies, music, or software.
Patent Infringement
Patent infringement on Amazon occurs when someone steals a product that has patented technology or design components within it.
There are two types of patents:
Utility Patents: Protect new processes, machines, articles of manufacture, or compositions of matter.
Design Patents: Protect the physical design of a functional item.
Patent infringement on Amazon can look like:
Selling a product that uses a patented technology without permission.
Selling a product that mimics the patented design of another product.
Amazon's Utility Patent Neutral Evaluation Process allows patent owners to address patent infringement concerns. The process uses a neutral third party who evaluates the claims and the accused product to determine if there has been infringement.
Steps to Submit an Infringement Report
Once you know what type of infringement you’re dealing with, it’s time to submit an infringement report with Amazon!
Here’s how to do that.
Gather Necessary Info
The obvious first step here is to gather the necessary information and the receipts of the infringement.
This includes:
Any copyright or patent that you hold
Screenshots or pictures of the original product
Screenshots and Amazon URLs of all of the fake products you found
Any expert analysis you’ve gotten that shows you own the original product and that it was stolen or copied (if applicable)
Sales records of the items you’ve sold
Any correspondence you have had with the infringing party
ASIN numbers of every infringing item/listing
File Claim with Amazon
Now you’ll file your claim with Amazon.
This is as simple as filling out a form on Amazon that should include all of your gathered evidence and personal contact information.
You’ll need to:
Declare who you are and who you are filing on behalf of
Select the type of infringement
Fill in the forms, including every infringing URL you can find, and providing additional info when possible
Once you fill out and submit your infringement report form, Amazon’s team will look over the evidence and make a decision. This process usually takes 1-3 days, and you can check in on the status of your report through your Amazon seller account.
If they do find that the item is infringing on rights, they will remove it. Make sure to check the listing after this, as if it is still up but says “unavailable,” you will have to submit another report.
Send a Cease & Desist Letter to Seller
Finally, you can take a more proactive route and follow up by sending a cease and desist letter to the seller.
When it comes to copyright/IP infringement, this process is also known as filing a DMCA takedown.
To do this, you will need to gather the evidence from before and send an official-looking “stop it” email stating that the seller is breaking the law by selling your pirated product.
This is a good way to directly engage with the thief and let them know you mean business. Check out some DMCA takedown templates here.
Resources & Tools for IP Protection on Amazon
Of course, the dream would be to not have to get fake products removed in the first place. To do this, you can take some proactive steps to keep your IP safe and sound on Amazon.
Here are a few things you can do to protect your IP on Amazon:
Register for a patent/copyright
Use Amazon’s brand registry
Monitor Amazon’s marketplace for new, possibly infringing listings
Label products clearly
Use NDAs for manufacturers
Leverage data analytics
Communicate with Amazon
Consider hiring a service/working with a legal expert
Hiring a Takedown Service
If you have multiple DMCA takedown requests you want to send to multiple offenders on Amazon, you want continued monitoring and removal of Amazon products that infringe on your rights as the content creator, or you just don’t want to deal with it, you can always hire a DMCA takedown service.
They will handle the DMCA takedowns, continue to monitor the web for evidence of other misuse of your content, and keep your IP protected.
We even have our own takedown service and we would love to fight for your (online) honor.
We found an anti-piracy expert to reclaim our lost rankings and stop unauthorized versions of our products. Now you can work with him too.
Avoid lost revenue when others monetize YOUR content
Stop brand damage when your name is used on shady websites
Prevent stolen versions from appearing above you in search results
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon refund fake products?
If Amazon determines that a product a customer has purchased is fake, they will refund it witihin 1-3 days.
How do I report a fake Amazon listing?
To report a fake Amazon listing, gather evidence of the infringing content and proof that you are the creator, then file a report using Amazon’s easy reporting system.
How to not get fake products on Amazon?
To not get fake products on Amazon, do things like checking seller ratings and reviews, verify authorized sellers, and use Amazon’s reporting system.
Does Amazon check for counterfeits?
Yes, Amazon checks for counterfeit items on its site and promptly has them removed.
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