My payment hold due to MC999, Need Help

[shan_accessories]

(Received from ebay)

We wanted to let you know that you have been temporarily restricted from selling and buying on eBay because of concerns about your seller account. This must be frustrating, but measures like these help keep our marketplace safe for everyone.

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 CTom@bsfllp.com for more information and to resolve the matter.
 
Court Order Details
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Plaintiff: LifeVac LLC
Trademark/Copyright/Patent at issue: Lifevac Copyrights and Trademarks
Court Case Title: 23-cv-16233; LifeVac LLC v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule “A”

eBay did not decide to freeze your account, it was ordered to do so by a judge.  Please understand that eBay cannot release this freeze on your payouts until we receive instructions from the plaintiff’s attorney, or we receive a copy of a notice of dismissal or satisfaction of judgment that has been filed with the court. This matter must be resolved with plaintiff’s attorney or defended in court. Plaintiff’s attorney can be contacted at the above email address.  An attorney can explain to you how to defend the lawsuit in court.
If you have not heard from plaintiff’s attorney after 5 days, we will be happy to request they respond to you. If you need us to reach out, please contact VeRO@ebay.com.

[bonjourami]

Have you contacted Vero about those fake hats? Since you are in Pakistan, not sure how this will work.

[ckimodog]

@shan_accessories 

Looks like you were drop shipping from a retailer.  Big NO NO on eBay.  

Good luck with future opportunities. 

[slippinjimmy]

@shan_accessories 

Since you are in Pakistan it's safe to say that this company will never come after you even AFTER they get a final judgment against you.

It's also safe to say that the money eBay is holding as a result of the court order will never be paid out to you and in addition your days of selling on eBay are over.

[hartungcards]

Or in other words, you win some, you lose some.

[ittybitnot]

@shan_accessories 

Unfortunately, you are a victim of a new "cottage industry" in the US with regards to IP infringement.  Vero takedowns were not enough, and now we have the Schedule A Defendants (aka SAD scheme).  This goes after individual sellers instead of the Marketplace, since they are less likely to be able to defend themselves.  You are asked to pay a fee to avoid a more strict monetary judgement or punishment.  eBay has elected to cooperate and support the court orders levied against their members. 

The messages sent by attorneys sound like they are simply scammers, and are routinely ignored.  People in the US are used to having notice sent by registered mail or a process server, but this particular court allows notice by email and recipients tend to  disregard the coercive sounding electronically delivered communication. 

The first link below goes to an article that describes the process in simple terms.  The second is more in depth, and explores the process in more detail. A simple search of the internet will reveal more discussion on the topic as well: 

"Schedule A Defendants"

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

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

[kensgiftshop]

Did you contact the attorney?

You might want to get you an attorney.

[ittybitnot]

Looks like you were drop shipping from a retailer.  Big NO NO on eBay.  

@ckimodog 

That doesn't have much to do with this issue.  As a matter of fact, there was a poster here recently whose USER ID was included in the Schedule A list for a product they posted for sale on eBay YEARS ago, that never even sold. 

Here is a story about a SAD scheme with a different twist.  Merry Christmas?

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/luke-combs-sick-copyright-woman-combs-tumblers/

It shows at least  what happens if you don't pay the initial "vig" and it goes to judgement.