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My ebay account was frozen by judge's order due to a brands intellectual property violation! Help me
Hello friends. I have been selling on eBay for almost 1.5 years. 8 to 12 months ago we listed 1 branded product and this product was never sold during the listing. The brand owner sued us in IL court and by order of the judge our store and payments restricted. Since we never sold the brand's product we did not affect the brand's profitability and sales otherwise we would have been ready to give the plaintiff the full amount of all sales of the product in question if there had been sales, also we just realized that we do not have the product in stock. I am trying to explain to the plaintiff's lawyer and the plaintiff that this was a mistake but they are asking me for 1500 dollars. I think this is illegal because they are using the judge's decision for their own gain! we still offered them 200 dollars in moral damages. they refuse and even if we pay 1500 dollars I doubt that they will keep their word and withdraw the case and I have no intention to pay more than 300 dollars maximum! what should I do about this? is there a deadline for opening our account and if I can't resolve this with the plaintiff I will sue the other side but there is no detailed information about the case. how can I proceed?
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoThese cases are a perfect example of a legal system gone amuck. It also appears virtually ALL of these cases come out of the Illinois court system.
twotoysstore
·2 years agoHey my friend.do you be able to fix that yet.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@twotoysstore
This thread is over a year old and the person who started it is no longer allowed to sell on eBay. I hope this answers your question.
Happy Selling.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@thekawrivertrader
This person is located in Turkey and they were 3rd party drop shipping (Retail arbitrage) from the US (DC) and still appear to be doing it. This is a huge policy violation on all internet venues. It seems to be happening a lot in these areas and the middle east. Many countries have been suspended to sell to the US and Canada due to non receipt & other issues. I believe They can sell in their country and Europe. This thread is also over 4 months old so the OP probably made amends with the lawsuit or simply ignored it. It will only be a matter of time before they are permanently suspended. Sellers like this one hurt good sellers that actually follow the rules. To me this is sad.
Happy Selling.
thekawrivertrader
·2 years agoIt's a SAD lawsuit. It basically a way for a law firm to push through a copyright violation without it actually going in front of a judge. It's been used as legalized extortion by some firms and it's not just eBay it's happening (it seems to actually be a lot worse on Amazon). Only way you're going to fix that mess is to get laws changed...and looking at Congress that ain't going to happen. IDK what to tell ya...because the only way to defend yourself in these cases is deep pockets and the ROI for what you'll spend in legal fees is not usually worth it (they know this, why they do it. They know you can't fight back)
team-mms
·2 years agohello:
This happened to me, I had listed an artisan made figure of the crow, never sold it.
This started in october 3rd 2023 , ebay payouts freezed, and an email from the the lawfirm, they asked me $2000 USD to be dismissed, and after 3 months an a half, january 8th 2024 they agreed a settlement for $500 USD, I payed only to recover my 25 year old ebay account, after 2 weeks my account was dismissed.
twotoysstore
·2 years agoMy friend.after account dismissed do you be able to resistant againt.
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoThe user you're replying to no longer sells on eBay, so I suspect they did not resolve the issue and were instead suspended and have never been able to resume selling, as is the case with many who break the law.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@twotoysstore
No. Creating another account will only be removed as well. I looked at your listings. it appears you are creating counterfeits by placing the word unofficial in your title. NOT allowed.
Best of luck.
twotoysstore
·2 years agoI dont mean to create anothet account, just try to find best solutions on these.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@twotoysstore
There is none.
Best of luck!
twotoysstore
·2 years agoSo what is you suggest my friend.
kh-laura
·2 years agoHi 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.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoAll Internet sites are deeply interested in maintaining their immunity from actions of third parties posting on their sites.
Expecting any of them to bring legal action to deal with the problems of third parties who post on those sites borders on insanity.
It will take a judge who does not see these suits as a nuisance to be dealt with in the quickest and easiest way to make any change.
The sites will honor TROs from any U.S. court because participating in legal actions other than complying is counter to their best interests.
And
ckimodog
·2 years ago@Anonymous
Seeing a lot of sellers from Turkey becoming either restricted or suspended. From looking at your account it appears you are drop shipping from the US and even another site like Amazon. I bought that same sewing kit you sold from Amazon earlier in the year. My suggestion is to consult an attorney and find out how valid this is and how it will effect you in the future.
I wish you good luck and a positive outcome.
an-57470
OP2 years agothanks for your answer. Many people ask this. But dropshipping from Amazon is against policy. We generally sell electronic products, and we offer the sewing set you mentioned and similar products in cooperation with small local businesses to increase the sales rate of our store. In short, we do not send products from Amazon, but we do not know where or how the businesses we have agreements with supply their products.
joliztoyco
·2 years ago"The SAD Scheme would likely evaporate if the online marketplaces did not honor
ex parte TROs so expansively. As just one example, in theory, online marketplaces
could freeze only the items and money associated with the allegedly infringing
activity, not the entire account and all funds-in-possession. However, so long as
online marketplaces fear their own liability exposure, they don’t have enough
incentives to make nuanced interventions. It’s simpler and lower-risk for them to
categorically shut down alleged infringers identified in the TRO.
In other words – if eBay DID ITS JOB CORRECTLY – this wouldn't happen."
an-57470
OP2 years agoI understand. The product in question was removed, but the product was never sold anyway. I can sell on my ebay account now, but since all payments are stopped, I cannot get paid even if I sell, so I turned on time away mode. What do you suggest me to do? Should I pay compensation or file a lawsuit against the plaintiff?
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agoNot exactly.
Most of these judgements are sweeping be they here or Amazon etc. They are written up in a way by the firms that are expansive and seek injunction and/or damages against the seller. That effectively shuts them down. Seldom I'd imagine are these even seen by a judge, more so likely a law clerk who stamps the judgement and out they go. Same is the case in legal collections actions, actual judges seldom if ever see the filings.
m60driver
·2 years agoUnfortunately this scam, and it is a scam, is not illegal. This scam use to be centered in east Texas but has now moved to Illinois. All you can do is write to your congressional representatives and ask for the laws to be changed. Or you can try contacting your local TV consumer affairs reporter or maybe write to Steve Lehto at his YouTube channel and see if he won't do a video on the matter and perhaps these efforts might shame the company into rescinding the court order.
an-57470
OP2 years agoHello, thank you for your answer. We were very pleased with your recommendations. Thanks 🙂
joliztoyco
·2 years agoYou've heard of Lawyers "Ambulance Chasing"?
Well this is the latest version:
"Law firms are increasingly using a tactic called “Schedule A Defendant†lawsuits to target online merchants on behalf of their clients in the name of trademark enforcement, and it’s having a devastating effect. A single lawsuit targeting hundreds of sellers at a time for selling a branded product can leave each seller owing many tens of thousands of dollars through default judgments that obliterate their businesses.
Law professor Eric Goldman wrote about what he dubbed SAD Schemes (“Schedule A Defendants†schemes) after being retained to opine in one such case in 2021. It led him to look at such cases holistically, and he told us he was shocked by what he saw.
“I saw so many places where the procedures and outcomes just didn’t comport with the law as I understood it,†he told EcommerceBytes in a telephone interview on July 14. “And I couldn’t understand how that kept replicating. It wasn’t like a one-off mistake. It was a systematic sequence of errors that the courts were producing. And when I give the presentation on my paper, the audiences are shocked.â€
Most sellers are familiar with programs like eBay’s VeRO, set up to efficiently handle takedown notices by brands who report specific listings as being in violation of their intellectual property. The SAD Schemes bypass such marketplace programs – instead, the brands (“rightsownersâ€) sue scores of sellers in a single complaint in federal court, accusing them of trademark infringement and counterfeiting.
In an article in April, Bloomberg Law reported that the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had received 817 Schedule A filings in 2022, an increase of over 900% from 2013, when the first Schedule A cases were filed.
The SAD lawsuits seek fast injunctions against defendants who don’t immediately know they’re being sued because judges are granting the plaintiffs’ requests that defendant lists be sealed."
Of course small sellers on eBay can't pay the monetary damages or hire a lawyer to fight these frivolous lawsuits. So their accounts are suspended by eBay. Deeply in debt and with their ability to sell to recoup losses ended, it has to be devastating.
Of course eBay could do something about this. You counter sue on a few of the most frivolous claims/ and the firms behind them. eBay has both the MONEY and the Lawyers to destroy this unethical end around of eBay's VERO policies. And that's what it is! You financially damage a few of these firms and they'll think twice about "stepping into eBay's sandbox".
But eBay won't do SQUAT!
So another 10% of their sellers disappear off their platform, vowing NEVER to sell here again. Then eBay will tinker with their Algo and raise the "suggested promoted listing rates".
Because eBay doesn't give a shyte about protecting sellers.
Just profits.
an-57470
OP2 years agoHello, thank you for your answer. Are you saying that ebay will provide us with a lawyer to sue the other party? My only wish is to close this case and continue selling on ebay. I do not want compensation from the plaintiff. However, there is a problem: our company does not reside in America. and the plaintiff can do nothing but close our ebay account and he knows it. We only have one warehouse in America and currently one lawyer. If you say that ebay will help us legally, this is very good news. We are looking forward to your answer. Thanks.
joliztoyco
·2 years agoNo!!! eBay will NOT help you.
Not ever!
Unless YOUR lawyer can settle this, you are toast on eBay.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoUnfortunately this sounds like a SAD lawsuit. Read up:
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2023/07/16/small-sellers-are-getting-swept-up-as-brands-weaponize-the-legal-system/
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Received-a-lawsuit-Trademark-Copyright-Patent-at-issue-Crow/m-p/34060703#M2297018