Why doesn't ebay enforce Trademark Infringement ?

[gps-recovery]

I have a competitor that prints counterfeit bar-code labels for several major manufacturers for repair kits he produces himself . . . the named manufacturer never had anything to do with the items he is selling.   His fake labels are displayed in his listings and he also uses the stolen brands in his descriptions.   Two of his products with counerfeit labels compete with 2 of my listings.  

When I called ebay, they said they only address Trademark Infringement when the complaint comes from the Manufacturer, not a buyer or another ebay member.   So in my listing,  I "OUT"  the guy but I wish I didn't have to do this.    I had an ebay support person read my listing "OUTING" another seller and they said I could do this.    Their policy just says something like you can't use offensive language about another member.  

[partial*eclipse]

Have you contacted the manufacturer(s) about this counterfeiting? Are they members of eBay's VeRO program?

[gps-recovery]

I have not contacted the manufacturers. Would SONY, SHARP, PANASONIC, HARMAN etc. respond to my input, even if I could figure out where to send the information ? I know your answer is the right answer, but I sensed it would be a waste of my time.

I am not familiar with the VeRO program.

[dhbookds · Accepted solution]

Here's the page about Vero.......

http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing/create-effective-listings/vero-program.html#m17-1-tb2

I looked at the list.......and saw only panasonic......but could be different names......or I could have missed in my quick scan.....

Ebay can't do anything unless the actual companies contact them since ebay can't tell if it's an infringement or not.  They WILL remove a listing if the company makes a formal complaint........

[luckythewinner]

OP,

eBay enforces trademark infringement when they are reported by the intellectual property owner.

There is no way that eBay can be become an expert on the intellectual property ownership and licensing agreements for every one of the 1 billions listings on its site. And they certainly aren't going to make intellectual property decisions based on the input from a third party such as yourself.

Congress passed the Digital Millenium Copyright Act specifically to address this situation. Websites like eBay are given safe harbour from liability for intellectual property violations as long as the provide a mechanism for the intellectual property owner to file Notice of Claimed Infringement to report a violation, and agree to take the infringing content down after it is reported. This is what the VERO system is designed to do.

So long story short - you are not the the intellectual property owner, so eBay is not going to take action based on your reports. That would give unscrupoulous sellers too much opportunity to falsely report innocent sellers in order to reduce competition.

[gps-recovery]

Thanks, I just check again, These are several of the counterfeit labels at his ebay store
SONY VISIO HARMAN LG PIONEER SAMSUNG MITSUBISHI Y-SUS SANYO.

His entire business model if based on Trademark Infringement. He is really good at reproducing LOGOs on bar code labels. The part numbers on the labels are fiction. The logos are copied from graphics found in a google search.

[rainbowcolorz]

Because they don't wanna.

[nowthatsjustducky]

---

@rainbowcolorz wrote:
Because they don't wanna.

---

As has been indicated upthread, it is because only the imaginary property owner has standing to report violations of their trademarks.  eBay will not just accept any report from any random user.  That would open too great a can of worms to interfere with pretty much anyone for any reason otherwise.

[7606dennis]

---

@nowthatsjustducky wrote:

---

@rainbowcolorz wrote:
Because they don't wanna.

---

As has been indicated upthread, it is because only the imaginary property owner has standing to report violations of their trademarks.  eBay will not just accept any report from any random user.  That would open too great a can of worms to interfere with pretty much anyone for any reason otherwise.

---

What "imaginary property owner" are you talking about?  Intellectual Property Rights are not imaginary.  However, you are quite correct that eBay will not accept reports of infringement by someone other than the owner of intellectual property being infringed.

Of course, the buyers of the counterfeit items have the right to file SNAD disputes against any seller doing what the OP claims.  Provided that the Op's claims are true.

If the OP is an authorized dealer, they might want to report their suspicions to the rights owner and let them deal with it.  Even if not an authorized dealer the rights owners would probably be interested in having it brought to their attention.

[sg51]

When I called ebay, they said they only address Trademark Infringement when the complaint comes from the Manufacturer, 

Seems pretty clear why they wouldn't do so based on complaints from random people.

The VeRO program is formally described, and is in response to laws which cover the rights and responsibilities of a venue such as ebay.

A trademark owner who misuses VeRO suffers sanctions.   There isn't any way to sanction some random guy with a yahoo email account.

[sg51]

When I called ebay, they said they only address Trademark Infringement when the complaint comes from the Manufacturer, not a buyer or another ebay member.  

What penalty would you be willing to accept if you were mistaken and there was no infringement?

[gps-recovery]

I am not mistaken. I bought his product and I happen to be the industry expert in this small niche after-market repair product. The product he sold me was not produced by the Manufacture that appears on the products label and his listing. No possible mistake.

[chung-lee-2]

Sorry but this post just makes you sound like an unhappy competitor , how are we to know if you are selling genuine drives either . Just cause you say so ?

[kitschy*loot]

I looked at one of your listings, you shouldn't have named those sellers and accused them of being liars. It does not make you look helpful, but it does make you look spiteful.

[sg51]

I am not mistaken. I bought his product and I happen to be the industry expert in this small niche after-market repair product. The product he sold me was not produced by the Manufacture that appears on the products label and his listing. No possible mistake.

I'm guessing that a whole lot of people in competitive situations would like to shut down their competitors.

How would ebay know mistaken ones from correct ones?