big trouble, what i want to do now?

Locked

Discussion interactions are currently paused.

Hello pasmal_21
DRAFT TOP, INC. has filed a lawsuit in the United States claiming that your account was used to sell inauthentic TOPLESS products. Please take this notice seriously. If you ignore this matter, the court may rule that you have forfeited your legal defense and the court may force eBay to permanently disable your account. DRAFT TOP, INC. can be contacted through their attorneys at the following email address:

Litigation@fleneriplaw.com

Court Order Details
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Plaintiff: DRAFT TOP, INC.
Trademark/Copyright/Patent at issue: DRAFT TOP, DRINK TOPLESS, DT, TOPLESS
Court Case Title: 23-cv-67; DRAFT TOP, INC., v. THE PARTNERSHIPS AND UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED IN SCHEDULE â€œAâ€

If you had any remaining can opener listings using DRAFT TOP, INC. trademarks, eBay has ended them. Do not attempt to relist these products or similar products using TOPLESS or DRAFT TOP in the listing titles or descriptions. Doing so may result in your account being permanently disabled.

Sincerely,

eBay Inc.

pasmal_21

12 View listings

Posted 3 years ago·Last reply 2 years ago

17 comments

tobaccocardyahoo

·2 years ago

5533 View listings

I am not a lawyer. I am an experienced business person.

The court order probably blocks Ebay from paying you.

If you do not respond to the lawsuit, a default judgement will be issued and it will probably bar you from selling on Ebay. And the plaintiff will pursue being paid for whatever damages the court decides.

VeRo is irrelevant. The legal system is now in control of the fate of your account.

One of the many risks of using a drop shipper is being demonstrated here.

Unavailable member

·2 years ago

Their profile isn't available.

@tobaccocardyahoo

This topic is moot.

The OP is NARU.

eluxium

·2 years ago

99 View listings

any new updates about this case, what happened at the end

Unavailable member

·2 years ago

Their profile isn't available.

@eluxium

Yes...the the update is the OP is NARU.

reallynicestamps

·3 years ago

2485 View listings

Don't relist those items.

Don't deal with the supplier who was supplying those items.

Ignore the letter. You're in Sri Lanka, they are not going to follow through.

And try not to sell anything you do not hold in your own hands.

This problem began because your dropship supplier is sending fake products.

whatmorefabric

·3 years ago

26653 View listings

There are law firms around the US, with the blessings on manufacturers, that send cease and desist emails.

You contact them, they tell you to prove it is authentic, and when you can't they say to take it down and pay them anywhere from 200 to 500 dollars and the case will disappear.

I get these from selling Sanrio Hello Kitty fabric even though I purchase the fabric through the manufacturer.

If you are in Sri Lanka, an email is probably not service.

the_fancy_fox

·3 years ago

2400 View listings

Were they real products or knock offs? Your answer will help us help you.

donsdetour

·3 years ago

4775 View listings

@the_fancy_fox wrote:
Were they real products or knock offs? Your answer will help us help you.

One interesting fact is the buyer is unregistered user.....

a_c_green

·3 years ago

4168 View listings

@donsdetour wrote:
@the_fancy_fox wrote:
Were they real products or knock offs? Your answer will help us help you.
One interesting fact is the buyer is unregistered user.....

That might be the patent troll using a throwaway account to buy a sample of the product and see if it's genuine. If the OP was dropshipping from a Chinese supplier, there's some chance that it was not genuine.

However, given that the OP is in Sri Lanka, I don't know what they expect him to do about an unsolicited legal threat from the U.S. I seriously doubt that the patent troll generating those messages is going to spend any actual money on further court proceedings on a closed sale from up to a year ago by a seller who's halfway around the world.

donsdetour

·3 years ago

4775 View listings

@a_c_green wrote:
@donsdetour wrote:
@the_fancy_fox wrote:
Were they real products or knock offs? Your answer will help us help you.
One interesting fact is the buyer is unregistered user.....
That might be the patent troll using a throwaway account to buy a sample of the product and see if it's genuine. If the OP was dropshipping from a Chinese supplier, there's some chance that it was not genuine.

However, given that the OP is in Sri Lanka, I don't know what they expect him to do about an unsolicited legal threat from the U.S. I seriously doubt that the patent troll generating those messages is going to spend any actual money on further court proceedings on a closed sale from up to a year ago by a seller who's halfway around the world.

Yep such would create a problem: Yet if received in the US: depending of laws of that other country: such still may be valid: again legal advice would be nessesary.

a_c_green

·3 years ago

4168 View listings

@donsdetour wrote:
@a_c_green wrote:
@donsdetour wrote:
@the_fancy_fox wrote:
Were they real products or knock offs? Your answer will help us help you.
One interesting fact is the buyer is unregistered user.....
That might be the patent troll using a throwaway account to buy a sample of the product and see if it's genuine. If the OP was dropshipping from a Chinese supplier, there's some chance that it was not genuine.

However, given that the OP is in Sri Lanka, I don't know what they expect him to do about an unsolicited legal threat from the U.S. I seriously doubt that the patent troll generating those messages is going to spend any actual money on further court proceedings on a closed sale from up to a year ago by a seller who's halfway around the world.
Yep such would create a problem: Yet if received in the US: depending of laws of that other country: such still may be valid: again legal advice would be necessary.

I assume the item was indeed received in the US, but the fact remains that it's one transaction from upwards of a year ago that was sent from China on behalf of a seller in Sri Lanka. I'd love to know what sort of legal maneuver would occur next, but my bet is that the patent troll got some kind of payment from the plaintiff for sending that nastygram, and that will be all.

They may decide to further harass other dropshipping sellers of the same item who are actually in the United States, but I cannot picture what the court would do next for a defendant who's in Sri Lanka.

donsdetour

·3 years ago

4775 View listings

Some of this stuff is scams: some is real.

Consult legal advice is the best advice I gan give.

Advice to posters please do not post links to such sites found on the nets: you can never be sure they are real or scam sites.

ckimodog

·3 years ago

9204 View listings

@pasmal_21

Were you sending these items from Sri Lanka or were you drop shipping? I've seen a lot of those Topless can openers being sold from China sellers. I would take the advice of others here and seek legal advice and help.

caldreamer

·3 years ago

4052 View listings

I did internet search and found out that Fleneriplaw.com is a real law firm that handles copyright infringement. You should contact them at email address Litigation@fleneriplaw.com and explain that you never sold tool that allows you to "cut top of cans". DRAFT TOP, INC. has copyright on this tool.

Good luck with this...

Unavailable member

·3 years ago

Their profile isn't available.

@caldreamer

The OP did sell such a tool. Look in feedback left for others 2nd page 8th from the top says Portable Topless Can Opener Professional Strong Heavy Kitchen Can Opener...

@dbfolks166mt A copyright holder can file with eBay to become a VERO member even though you donâ€™t see the name of the company there doesnâ€™t mean they arenâ€™t a member.

dbfolks166mt

·3 years ago

1086 View listings

There have been a couple of postings like this lately. How did you receive this notification was it through eBay or some other medium? There is a good probability that this is some type of scam to solicit money from you. You are in Sri Lanka and the law suit was filed in the US. From what I can tell Drafttop Inc. is not a VERO participant and they have no way to have the court to "force" eBay to terminate your account.

Have you actually ever listed or sold anything associated with Drafttop? I see nothing in your current or sold listings. Did you have listings associated with Drafttop that eBay deleted?

Unavailable member

·3 years ago

Their profile isn't available.

Was this sent in your messages on eBay as well as your eMail address? Looks like you did sell the can opener made by that company. Looks to me like you need to hire an attorney because you are being sued for patent/trademark/copyright infringement.