Vero complaints against my listings

[defiancerc]

I have a situation in which several items I sell have been delisted by eBay due to a VERO complaint from a rights owner.  In emailing the rights owner, they claim to own the trademark to the brand name of the products I sell.  They just recently trademarked their name it appears.  From a simple search, there are over 1000 items on eBay using this company's name.  The items I'm selling come from a well-established company overseas and they've been selling for 10+ years.  Now this new company comes along, who has absolutely nothing to do with the products in question ( we sell electronics, while this new company is a luxury home rental outfit ), and is now sending VERO claims, forcing eBay to take down several of our listings.  

What can be done in these competing trademark cases? 

[justafemster]

The only thing you can do is sue them.  Which is exactly what never happens.  

And that's why these companies keep winning.  

[7606dennis]

If the rights owner files a VERO dispute, eBay has no choice but to remove the listings.  You need to deal with the one claiming ownership of the rights directly.

[7606dennis]

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@justafemster wrote:

The only thing you can do is sue them.  Which is exactly what never happens.  

And that's why these companies keep winning.  

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Actually, it is more likely that the one claiming ownership of the rights would be the one to sue for infringement.

[justafemster]

The seller would have to sue under first sale doctrine, win the case and present the judgement to ebay to remove the VERO.  Which the majority of sellers are unwilling to do.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Whatever you do, do not attempt to relist the removed listings. The more listings that get taken down, the more likely your account can get restricted by eBay.

[gloryglorygifts]

Can you contact the right's owner and work with them? It may be a simple fix. I had that happen to me last year and it turned out to be how the item was listed and described. My manufacturer listed it as NameBrand Rosary, which I then used in my listing. Instead, it should have been MyBrand rosary using NameBrand parts. If you get what I'm saying. Since I learned the right way to list my items, I haven't had any issues. Hopefully it is a quick fix for you too.

[defiancerc]

Unfortunately, it's not that simple.  It would involve editing 100+ listings.  The manufacturer of the products has been using their name for 10+ years, this new guy making these VERO complaints apparently got his trademark registered last year and is in a completely different industry and has nothing for sale on eBay.   Just so much work for something that doesn't make any sense or serve any purpose.  There are thousands of listing on eBay, I wonder if he is making VERO complaints on all the listings or if he's just doing this to me...

[popblox]

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@defiancerc wrote:

I have a situation in which several items I sell have been delisted by eBay due to a VERO complaint from a rights owner. 

What kind of claim? Brand misuse, IP violation, or something else?

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@defiancerc wrote:

In emailing the rights owner, they claim to own the trademark to the brand name of the products I sell.   

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Did you email them, and this was their response?

Almost everything sold on eBay is trademarked - you can sell genuine trademarked products, regardless of whether the member is on the VeRO list or not. The purpose of VeRO is to remove counterfeit items, photos used without permission, counterfeit items, etc.

Many VeRO members abuse the system by reporting legitimate licensed items. If this was a recently acquired trademark, it sounds like the company is all gung-ho and just reporting every listing they can find.

Regardless, you should email the rights owner and tell them you own the item and are allowed to sell it, as allowed by law under the First Sale Doctrine. Ask them exactly how you infringed on their IP rights and/or misused their brand name. 

[albertabrightalberta]

What is the reason given for the removal? 

I looked at your listings and it appears that a number of your listings use stock images. If the rights owner of those copyrighted images filed the VeRO dispute, they are well within their rights to do so. You can't use others' images (or descriptions) without their permission.

[rfmtm]

Do no relist until this is resolved.

Need more details to help you.

Are you selling authentic legally obtained items?

Are the items the actual brand name item you are selling?

Did you use your own photos and descriptions?

What type of item is it?

What is the title of the listing that was taken down?

Did you do any comparisons to another brand in the description?

[defiancerc]

The items I'm selling are legally gotten and I have permission from the manufacturer to sell them and also have permission from the manufacturer to use their pictures and descriptions. The products are toys and electronics.  The takedown was from a different company that apparently recently trademarked the name this manufacturer uses.  

The issue is this new entity, which has nothing to do with the manufacturer, decided to file VERO claims against my listings.  This new entity is in the luxury rental business and I don't know why they are even bothering as they don't sell anything on eBay as far as I can tell.  They use the same 3 letter name that the manufacturer of my products uses.  

I did email the person filing these takedowns and he says since he trademarked the 3 letter name he says he has every right to remove all listings on eBay using this manufacturer's name.  Of course, there are well over 1000 listings on eBay selling this manufacturer's products.  

He's already made legal threats against me and I'd definitely like to avoid any problems if possible.  It just seems crazy that anyone can file these VERO claims and take down listings.  

[rfmtm]

We need the rest of the information asked for to look into this.  We can not see your listing.

What is the three letter name?

What was the title of your listing?

What does the manufacturer you buy from have to say about this?

[rfmtm]

If this is for the TBS compatible items you are selling.  I see a problem with your past listings that do not follow ebay policy and also open you to legit VeRO take downs.   Or is it something else?  Can't help without the details.