Copyright Notice on ebay messages real or fake?

[stellarstoresusa]

I received this from a random buyer on ebay. Is this genuine or fake?

It is true that we procure this product from Chinese suppliers. There is a whole lot of sellers selling the same thing. I have a stock of this in my warehouse and will have to face a loss of the entire stock amount if I take down this listing. The agreement does look pretty fake to me. What should I do. Need honest suggestions.

[1786davycrockett]

@stellarstoresusa 

Although it may be a fake, why not contact the legal department at DeWalt headquarters, just to make sure?

If you are, indeed, offering to sell a less expensive and unauthorized  "knock-off" of a trademarked product, you may indeed be in legal danger.

Better safe than sorry -- make the phone call.

[robbie31415]

I'm going to say the majority of your listings are illegal.

So if they do sue you then you will most likely owe money.

Stealing copyrighted images is illegal.

If they can show you are selling counterfiets you will owe much more money.

[dirk12955]

What's "Economic court" ?    From the message .

Never heard of it.   

"Will be sued in International courts and ebay"   is another interesting 

phrase in the letter.  

For a formal "Copyright transfer agreement",   It's written very poorly.      

[robbie31415]

I agree but they could be foreign.

I got messages from Bayer via eBay that had very poor grammar. I ignored them and then eBay took them down at request of copyright holder.

I did use my own pics but they reported counterfiet.

I thought it was fake because of how poorly written the message was.

It wasn't fake either but I'm not going to fight it. Too much effort.

[stellarstoresusa]

Exactly! And I don't think that any copyright agreement have that kind of "Approved" seal. Plus no brand would contact you for copyright issue through ebay messages. Still, to avoid unnecessary complications I think I should just remove the listing. 

[michael_kelly]

Appearnetly you don't see the problem...

1. You are  selling chinese knock offs.

2. You have no idea what your selling!!!

3. Acting as if ripping people off is an inconvenience to you.

4. You have a warehouse full of stolen goods.

.... still don't see it?

Then.... I hope they nail ur  TRADEMARK INFRINGING, COPYRIGHT BREAKING, PATENT STEALING  CHINA CRAP A**  TO THE WALL!

[dbfolks166mt]

     There are a couple things you should probably do. First take down the listing while you work through some issues. Second follow  1786davycrockett  advice and contact DeWalt customer support at the following number. 1-800-4-DEWALT (1-800-433-9258) Monday - Friday, 8am-5pm Eastern Time. 

     You are in India drop shipping items out of China and there is a high probability that the items are Counterfeit. DeWalt tools are made/assembled in the US and while DeWalt does obtain components from international suppliers however, DeWalt products that are assembled in the United States but use parts from other countries are labeled "Built in the USA with global materials. I have, and use, a LOT of DeWalt tools. 

     As far as the legal aspects yes DeWalt can sue for patent/copyright infringement but the success of that depends a lot on which country and company the suit is brought against. China tends to ignore patent/copyright law and counterfeits about everything these days with little concern for any legal ramifications. 

     As a seller one of your bigger concerns should be buyers filing return claims with eBay or their CC company for Not As Described (NAD) and you having to cover the return shipping cost or refund and forfeit the item. Also this item contains a Lithium-ION battery which can be shipped by air but requires special handling and labeling when shipping. 

[kensgiftshop]

A lot of those items from China is counterfeit.

Also, dropshipping from another retail site like AliExpress is not allowed.

[a_c_green]

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@stellarstoresusa wrote:

I received this from a random buyer on ebay. Is this genuine or fake?

---

It is absolutely, utterly ridiculous. It's not even a good fake. It seems to have been put together by someone who has little knowledge of either the law or the English language. The document appears to have originated as a fill-in-the-blanks form about copyright transfer, to which they added what they believe are threatening, legal-sounding phrases that really have no connection to reality. That clip-art "APPROVED" seal added on the bottom is especially funny. I think it was sent to you by a competitor who is selling the same item as you.

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@stellarstoresusa wrote:

It is true that we procure this product from Chinese suppliers. There is a whole lot of sellers selling the same thing. I have a stock of this in my warehouse and will have to face a loss of the entire stock amount if I take down this listing.

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If you have a stock of these laser levels in your warehouse, then definitely take your own photos to show that they really are DeWalt levels. Make your photos very clear. Do not use stock photos, as buyers cannot tell whether you really have the items that you are advertising.

Although the letter you received is nonsense, you do have an obligation to sell only the real product, and not drop-ship what may or may not be counterfeit products from China.

[dirk12955]

My thought too was that the OP was being messed with by a competitor.

Still,   Selling Chinese knock-offs will eventually bring a real letter from a real lawyer.   

[a_c_green]

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@dirk12955 wrote:

My thought too was that the OP was being messed with by a competitor.

Ayup... and I'm also wondering who or what "WING STORE" is, in that document. When reading it you can see that it makes no sense whatsoever; it's just random phrases thrown together in a template that was actually created for something else altogether.

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@dirk12955 wrote:

Still,   Selling Chinese knock-offs will eventually bring a real letter from a real lawyer.

---

It can, yes, though the OP is in India, so I assume the worst that could happen is that he would lose his eBay account. There is no indication that DeWalt is actually taking any action, though.

The most interesting part of the OP's post is his statement that he actually has the stock himself in his warehouse. Assuming that his warehouse is where he is, in India, then this would not be a dropshipping matter, although the items themselves could be clones or counterfeit, which is why I encourage him to take his own photos of the items he is actually selling.