Intellectual Property Policy for Sellers
This policy provides an overview of intellectual property (IP) rights and some common IP concerns that might arise when selling on AlphaDiscounters. When you sell on AlphaDiscounters:
- You must comply with all federal, state, and local laws and AlphaDiscounters policies applicable to your products and product listings
- You may not violate the IP rights of brands or other rights owners
Violating this policy may result in loss of selling privileges or other legal consequences.
Important: This policy is not legal advice. You should consult a lawyer if you have a specific question about your IP rights or the IP rights of others.
There are 3 main types of IP rights:
- Copyrights are legal protections for original works of authorship
- Trademarks are legal protections for a word, symbol, design, or combination of the same that a company uses to identify goods and services
- Patents are legal protections for inventions
AlphaDiscounters IP enforcement
Responding to an IP infringement notice. If you receive a notice or warning for infringement and you believe the rights owner or AlphaDiscounters made an error, you may appeal or dispute the claim.
| Type of notice or warning | Actions you may take |
| For a product you never listed on AlphaDiscounters | Reply to the notification you received and let us know that you have never listed the reported product. We will investigate to determine if an error occurred. |
| If you have an established relationship with the rights owner | If you have a license or other agreement that allows you to use the IP identified in the notice, contact the rights owner who submitted the complaint to request a retraction. Your content may be reinstated if we receive a retraction from the rights owner. |
| Trademark or Counterfeit infringement on the product or packaging | Use the Account Health Dashboard present in your selling account to provide an invoice or Order ID that demonstrates the authenticity of the product. We will then re-evaluate the notice and your content may be reinstated. |
| Trademark or Counterfeit infringement on the product detail page | Modify the product detail page or pages to ensure they do not infringe the trademark and then submit your appeal by going to the Account page.
OR If you believe your listing was removed in error, you may submit your appeal by going to the Account page. Please provide supporting documentation (e.g., letter of authorization, licensing agreement). We will then re-evaluate the notice, and your content may be reinstated. |
| Patent infringement | Reply to the notification you received, with specific reasons as to why you believe a mistake was made. You may also provide a court order demonstrating that your product is non-infringing or that the asserted patent is invalid or unenforceable. |
| Copyright infringement | You may file a counter-notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The counter-notice must be sent to the email provided in your copyright warning and must include:
· Your physical or electronic signature. You can sign electronically by typing your name with an indication that it is intended to be a signature: “/s/ Seller Name.” · Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the specific location where the material appeared before it was removed or access was disabled. · A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of error or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled. · Your name, address, and telephone number, and that you consent of the Yours Court in which your seller address is located; and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of alleged copyright infringement or an agent of such person. |
- Multiple warnings of IP infringement. If you have received multiple warnings of IP infringement and you believe you are selling non-infringing products, submit an appeal via Seller Central with the following information:
A list of the allegedly infringing ASINs and at least one of the following, as applicable:
- Invoices proving the authenticity of your products (you may remove pricing information); OR
- AlphaDiscounters order IDs demonstrating product authenticity; OR
- An authorization letter from the rights owner (cannot be a forwarded email); OR
- A court order finding that your product does not infringe the asserted IP, or that the asserted IP is invalid or unenforceable.
- Account suspension. If your account has been suspended because of notices of IP infringement against your products or content, you can provide us with a viable Plan of Action. To learn more, refer to Create a plan of action to reinstate selling privileges
You should send your Plan of Action via your account dashboard or reply to the account suspension notification that you received. We will evaluate your Plan of Action and determine if your account may be reinstated. Note that AlphaDiscounters terminates the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.
- Sellers are expected to follow the law. AlphaDiscounters takes claims of IP infringement seriously. Even if a seller is infringing IP without knowledge, we will still take action and the seller’s account might receive a warning or be suspended. You should consult an attorney for help to ensure that you have the right procedures in place to prevent IP infringement.