Wrongfully removed item per VeRO

[trisport]

So today one of my items, a Swiss Tech backpack,  was removed because Swiss Army Brands Inc. said it was counterfeit. First off, it’s not counterfeit. Second, who would even take the time to counterfeit a $25 backpack? Third, they aren’t even the same company as Swiss Tech. How can they do this? Why does eBay allow these companies to report items they don’t even own the rights to themselves??? I sent an email to the company’s email address that eBay provided, but I seriously doubt they will do anything. Is there any way to contact eBay about this? I’ve been a seller on eBay for 25 years with 100% positive feedback, but I’m seriously considering alternate platforms with all this VeRO crap. Very disappointed with eBay right now.

[secondlifetreasures-llc]

The VeRO program enables greedy corporations to eliminate competition by removing listings of their products forcing consumers to purchase directly from them and for more money. It's a shady tactic, but we can't really do much about it.

[caldreamer]

Manufacturers hire online company that uses bots to search ALL selling platforms to find counterfeit items or violations.  Some times item is removed because it can only be sold by authorized dealers.

Do not relist this item...because EBAY may terminate your account.

[brightlightbookseller]

You can use the contact information in the email you received to plead your case to Swiss Army Brands and see if they will retract.  They don't have to, but it could mean bad publicity if they're found to be doing this regularly, so they might be willing to.  Don't relist unless you get a message from eBay that the VeRO complaint has been resolved/retracted.

[slippinjimmy]

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@trisport wrote:

Very disappointed with eBay right now.

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Why eBay? When a company files a copyright infringement claim against eBay, eBay has absolutely no choice but to remove the listing. If they do not then they would be liable for any infringement by the seller.

This is the way the Digital Millennium Copyright Act works. The DMCA was passed by congress in 1998 so your disappointment should be directed at the Company that made the claim and your elected representatives who wrote the Act.

FYI - You can file a counter-notice against the company, if they fail to respond you can get eBay to reinstate your listing and remove the violation from your file.

For information on counter-notices just Google.

[kensgiftshop]

China will counterfeit anything if they think they can sell a few of them.

[tech_time_shawano]

This is a new tactic being used to keep corporations rich and pretty soon a new law will need to be passed to keep everything from being owned by them. No more artistic freedom because something looks similar or is being resold. I'm currently having my designs stolen on another platform, I won't say which (it's Etsy). I have proof 2 shops owned by the same person are involved in the theft of thousands of digital download designs and then they turn around and claim copyright infringement on the original designer. 

It seems we can't even sell legitimate things without someone getting jealous, or interfering somehow. Don't give up, against everyone's advice here I would reword the listing, its usually AI and bots looking for keywords, maybe don't even include the brand name and include a link to their site? hmmm... maybe there is a way around it, but I doubt you will ever get a solution from eBay or even especially from the brand.

Sorry but the legal crap almost never works out in the small business owner's or seller's favor. Honestly, they are more like threats than anything. Really sorry that this is happening, I hope it works out for you, I wouldn't really blame eBay though as frustrating as I would be in your position. Just don't go to Etsy lol.

[rfmtm]

VeRO is often abused, and the DMCA often misused, but still ebay gets to do what it wants. In a nutshell, when a VeRO member requests it, eBay removes an item in question, whether it has to legally or not.

Note that the actual DMCA law applies to copyright violations only. Authenticity and trademark abuse are not covered by the DMCA for web site removal under the law. It's eBay's own policy that extends the DMCA like behavior to this. The downside is that as a result you don't get the DMCA mandated remedies for people who abuse it.

Best you can do now is figure out what triggered the take down, and was it valid. First step is to contact the VeRO member and if no response, call ebay. Usually unless this is your main item of business, it is not worth the fight to relist one item and risk further trouble. Of course this is what VeRO abusers count on.

However, if it is clear abuse you have the right file in your local federal court, and here the loser pays the winner's court fees and up to trebled damages. Many have done this and won, even without an attorney, and once eBay's legal department is notified of the outcome, they leave you alone. Still, hardly worth it unless you have damages and it is affecting your ongoing business.

Many have also found a simple letter from their attorney to the VeRO member with a copy to ebay's legal department, quickly gets an abuser to back down. You also can file a counter-notice yourself, but it really only has legal standing in copyright issues, but ebay will still consider it for all VeRO issues.

[krazzykats]

Is the backpack Swiss Tech or SwissTech all one word?  

Swiss Army has a Victorinox Swiss Army Silver Tech pocket-type knife.  Maybe the bot found those two words belonged to Swiss Army in your title?

[theteamsetguy]

@secondlifetreasures-llc ,

It's not about forcing consumers to buy directly from them as the companies fears second hand sales cheapens their brands in addition to the big counterfeit problem. 

[theteamsetguy]

@trisport ,

With the recent enactment of the Inform Consumers Act congress recently pass and signed by President Biden you will see much greater enforcement of counterfeiters on all platforms.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/inform-consumers-act-aims-curb-online-sales-counterfeit-...

[rfmtm]

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It's not about forcing consumers to buy directly from them as the companies fears second hand sales cheapens their brands in addition to the big counterfeit problem. 

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That's too bad, but unless the company has won a court order preventing resale, as very few have, seller has the right to sell any authentic legally obtained item, second hand or not, and this is nothing more than the abuse of the VeRO program.

[rfmtm]

No one has a problem with curbing counterfeits, but currently it is the abuse take down of choice as it is hard to fight.  Plus for non-VeRO take downs ebay offers no recourse at all for sellers to prove the item is authentic.

[farmalljr]

You can sell whatever you want as long as it's legal. You CAN NOT sell something as NEW if you are not authorized to. First sale doctrine has nothing to do with or afford protections to selling something as NEW. 

New implies you can honor warranties or promises. You can't do that unless you have a relationship with the manufacture. 

I really don' care how anyone feels about the statement, it's the truth and reality of the situation. You are offering a buyer a fake warranty, a fake product, if you can't back up the guarantee on the package. Huge difference between "new" and all other conditions. HUGE.

[rfmtm]

If you had to be "authorized" then half the listings on ebay need to be removed.  Wouldn't all these companies love that.  Granted the sale doctrine doesn't address this specifically, but neither does any other law.  The very few companies that went to court over this got rulings that only pertained to them and their specific products.

If you have legal reference otherwise, please post a link.