Attack/sue by SAD scheme (Schedule A Defendant) lawsuits Trademarks/Copyrights Infringement

[hobbykollectibles]

Hello all, I’m a seller in Hong Kong but register in US eBay, I sell mainly per-owned/vintage model kits and watches/misc items(Most of them are my personal collections purchased long time ago and some are brought from authentic toys website), I sell them coz I’m getting old and no longer collect them more and made some money for my family. All my listing are authentic and original, don’t know why it will be involved into a trademarks/patent case…. My payouts account had been frozen 2 days ago without any prior notice and receive the following message from eBay:

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Your payouts are currently on hold because your eBay payment account is restricted. A U.S. Court has directed eBay to freeze your account. Please reach out to plaintiff’s attorney at lfigueroa@HSPLEGAL.COM for more information and to resolve the matter.

Court Order Details
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Plaintiff: Toho
Trademark/Copyright/Patent at issue: Godzilla Trademarks and Copyrights
Court Case Title: Toho (23-cv-14720) v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule “A”.
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It’s about “Godzilla” and I have 5 vintage Godzilla soft vinyl kit for sale. I had contact local eBay CS and he just can do nothing and tell me to contact the plaintiff’s attorney and see what’s going on, my payouts has been frozen.

Please help and kindly advise what to do, I study some other case seems they are just asking for money - It’s a large sum of money !!! Just wonder it could be any brand(ie.: Many brands are also included so nothing can be sell in the future????)

Please help & advise what to do and thank you very very much!!! All your opinion would be much appreciate!!

[adamcartwright]

These SAD lawsuits are news to me, and I greatly appreciate your bringing this issue to my attention.

[mam98031]

This is an OLD thread.

FYI the OP is still selling on Ebay.

[dbfolks166mt]

Please add this very recent story to your file. Few days ago my friends Ebay UK account was indefinitely suspended for this type of lawsuit SAD (Schedule A Defendant) Scheme with a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from a judge in US Illinois.

The product in question is not even their clients brand. The product has its own brand and copyright from a huge company here in UK. and my friend has the account with this UK company. The product even has its brand mentioned on its eBay title.

They send a query to US law firm and they immediately ask them to pay  $8K so they can drop the case but my friend is not willing to pay it as they know they have not violated any law.

My friend send them a photo of the product in question with its own barcode and printed copyright claim from UK company plus the website of the manufacturing company with the product showed online. The product in question was automatically enrolled on Ebay global shipping and have not sold even 1 pc in the US. The irony of it is that their US "trademarked" product is also being sold all over UK and EU when it is  copyrighted by this UK company.

They are now waiting for their reply and being advised by other friends to seek legal help as this lawsuit seems done without checking and investigating the facts. It’s really really alarming if this type of issue is happening to legitimate sellers and eBay cannot do anything about it because of the TRO.

So far hundreds of thousands of small online sellers all over marketplaces are being victimized by this SAD Scheme and its counting. If anybody else are reading this, please look it up or you or your family member or your friend will be the next victim. Victims will be left defenceless unless you have deep pocket and can hire a lawyer to represent you or if you're lucky enough to find legal counsel who is willing to help pro-bono.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAD_scheme

https://columbialawreview.org/content/a-sad-scheme-of-abusive-intellectual-property-litigation/

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2023/03/my-new-article-on-abusive-schedule-a-ip-lawsuits-will-...

     It seems like everyone of these is coming out of the state of Illinois. The lawyers mush have ran out of ambulances to chase and need a new source of revenue. I have not had this happen to me but if it does the first thing I would do is end every listing I had on eBay. There is no sense adding to the potential pot eBay is holding but having other items sell. As for the lawyer sham reminds me of the following book. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     It's pretty much a quasi legal scam. The first thing you may want to consider doing is ending all of your other current listings. If anything else sells it will just add to the pot of money eBay is holding. These lawyers in Illinois  seem to be targeting eBay sellers. There are other venues to list and sell your items on although I would consider not listing the Godzilla's on those sites. 

     It will be difficult to say what eBay does with the funds they have on hold you are basically in China and traditionally China has ignored US laws and the legal system. The courts and lawyers have little authority or power to do anything to a Chinese seller. 

[dbfolks166mt]

It is quite possible for the sale of a brand which is valid in the UK could be infringement in the US.

There may be no abuse of process.

UK sellers who offer UK products for sale in the US need to do due diligence on trademarks and copyrights. Same with other sellers who are sourcing in one country and selling in another.

     FYI the OP is in Hong Kong which is basically China. It is pretty much an accepted fact that China ignores trademarks and copyrights. 

[mam98031]

@dbfolks166mt 

Again, this is an OLD thread.  The Op is still selling on Ebay too.

[dbfolks166mt]

@buvi1960 

These are real lawsuits and the OP needs to contact the attorney.  To assume this is "fishy" and do nothing about it, will likely be a very bad move.

     Agreed. At least CS gave the OP some good advice when they told them to go into vacation mode or to end listings to keep anything else from being sold and added to the held funds. 

     Even 400 years after Shakespeare’s death,  “The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.” is maybe still not such a bad thought in some respects.

You should read this.

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2023/07/16/small-sellers-are-getting-swept-up-as-brands-weaponize-the...

[dbfolks166mt]

@dbfolks166mt 

Again, this is an OLD thread.  The Op is still selling on Ebay too.

     Thanks I reported the post. I hate it when somebody piggybacks or resurrects an old post rather than starting their own thread. Apparently the OP got things worked out with the SAD case. 

[kh-laura]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.