MC019NOTICE TRADEMARK breach ?

[Chiara]

Hello all this is my first post so please be gentlewith your replies
I have had an ebay account since 2004,no problems,no suspensions,imagine my total shock,when all my listings (10)got removed today!
I mainly sell makeup NYX brand ,to be precise,its not a high range brand but just your usual stuff that you can buy from a chemist or local drugstore!
Average item is no more than about £5.
The MC019 Listing removed-Trademark breach Unauthoised item: says
Thank you for your recent listing on eBay. The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, ITEMS Warenhandels GmbH, notified eBay that this listing breaches intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of breach, we remove the listing to comply with the law.
Questions about the specific violation should be addressed to ITEMS Warenhandels GmbH
You can send an email to: me@items-nyx.de

We were notified that your listing breached a trademark owner's rights by importing an item from another country or region without their permission.
Can someone clarify is this MC019 notice, to do with my listings being visible and items have been sold to Germany etc?(not on regular basis,but did sell 1 of these to Germany,last week)...
I am really worried,that i wont be able to sell again,just to clarify,all photos,text, of the items that I was selling,have been taken by me,nothing has been copied from any other website items are genuine,too,i abs detest replica anything but especially makeup!
I did email the address in Germany,but as yet have not had a reply.
I have over 2000 positive feedback too
Thank you very much for any help in this matter
Chiara

[pidge90]

I think the process in this is try to contact the e-mail address that ebay have given you. If you have any supplier receipts that you could also use to help prove that they are infact genuine items, this would be a big help. But if you keep trying to contact the e-mail address to no reply, then i would contact ebay and tell them you have been trying to contact them but had no replys. Then maybe you can upload proof to ebay that the items are genuine. But i think its gonna be a big waiting game im afraid so good luck.

[oompaloompa]

ok, you will have to get clearance from the rights owner, you may not get anywhere with this, they may not want you to sell it and they have a right to request and ultimately enforce ebay to stop your listings.

Dont sell any more of these items unless you have clearance, as you are probably being watched.

This issue brought down my original accounts years ago, the rights owner did not want their items sold on ebay, I continued to list as I knew items were genuine and I got banned and my other accounts that did not sell item were linked and fell with it. The rights owner may be convinced that your items are genuine, but they do not want you to sell them! They will not necessarily want to tell you that, as it makes them look unfair and a bully. BTW it was the best thing that ever happened to my ebay career, because I joined this forum, but I dont recommend it.

[worththewait]

Originally Posted by Chiara

Hello all this is my first post so please be gentlewith your replies
I have had an ebay account since 2004,no problems,no suspensions,imagine my total shock,when all my listings (10)got removed today!
I mainly sell makeup NYX brand ,to be precise,its not a high range brand but just your usual stuff that you can buy from a chemist or local drugstore!
Average item is no more than about £5.
The MC019 Listing removed-Trademark breach Unauthoised item: says
Thank you for your recent listing on eBay. The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, ITEMS Warenhandels GmbH, notified eBay that this listing breaches intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of breach, we remove the listing to comply with the law.
Questions about the specific violation should be addressed to ITEMS Warenhandels GmbH
You can send an email to: me@items-nyx.de

We were notified that your listing breached a trademark owner's rights by importing an item from another country or region without their permission.
Can someone clarify is this MC019 notice, to do with my listings being visible and items have been sold to Germany etc?(not on regular basis,but did sell 1 of these to Germany,last week)...
I am really worried,that i wont be able to sell again,just to clarify,all photos,text, of the items that I was selling,have been taken by me,nothing has been copied from any other website items are genuine,too,i abs detest replica anything but especially makeup!
I did email the address in Germany,but as yet have not had a reply.
I have over 2000 positive feedback too
Thank you very much for any help in this matter
Chiara

I wouldn't worry about it - ebay seems to make up their own rules as they go along!! Perhaps another ebayer has reported you as you are competition for them... leave it a few days before relisting your items. If you get another warning then again maybe leave it another few days and try relisting using a variation of the TITLE you are using to list the items...

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by worththewait

I wouldn't worry about it - ebay seems to make up their own rules as they go along!! Perhaps another ebayer has reported you as you are competition for them... leave it a few days before relisting your items. If you get another warning then again maybe leave it another few days and try relisting using a variation of the TITLE you are using to list the items...

Unfortunately, the letter he received states it was the RIGHTS OWNER that requested removal, not another eBay member. So re-listing the items will, in all likelihood, get the account banned.

In this case, they don't seem to be accusing you of selling counterfeits. They are accusing you of selling what are known as "parallel imports". Many companies set different prices for their goods in each country, based on how much the market will pay. When you import genuine goods from one country where prices are lower to sell in another country where prices are higher, they don't like that.

This is especially controversial here in the USA where we pay the highest prices for EVERYTHING! A college student in the UK, for example, may pay $50 US for a textbook. In America, it costs $175 US. Textbook publishers try to shut down companies that buy the books in the UK and re-sell them here.

The drug companies also do this. A medicine that costs $150 in the USA may go for $80 in Canada. Many of our senior citizens try to get their medications from Canada in order to save some money. For them, it can be critical, because they don't have tons of money. In some cases, they may have to choose between eating and taking their needed medications. The drug companies have gone so far as to claim that Canadian imports of their drugs are unsafe - a very strange strategy, if you ask me.

The law does seem to be on their side. It worked well for them back in the days before the internet, as how would anyone know what the prices for things in other countries were? But now, people know. Companies that use what they call "market based pricing" (I call it "PREDATORY pricing") will spend billions of dollars to try to stop this. In my opinion, this type of thing should be ILLEGAL. But for now, they can get away with it.

So, as a small time seller, all you can do is try to approach the rights owner and ask them to allow you to sell their goods. But good luck with that!

If God exists and heaven and hell are for real, then I would have to believe the executives at these companies have a special section of hell reserved just for them. The fires in this section burn hotter, the pitchforks are sharper, and music from Hanson will play in the background for all eternity...

[rsot]

@Chiara, do NOT relist - not even after waiting a few days - your account is under the eye now - listen to Oompa.

Don't do variation.

Contact that e-mail - contact eBay - keep low.

Now, if you absolutely NEED to move items - you must go stealth now. Get a copy of the stealth guide and/or peruse the entire forum on how to set up CLEAN accounts unlinked.

Build them slowly - sell on the side - you may get shut down but at least if you vary your listings on new account(s) then you won't be linked.

Tread lightly and do not panic.

Edit: Jeffweico King of Analysis has reared his head - well written ha.

[Chiara]

hiya all thank,thank you for all your replies!I truly appreciate!
Can someone clear this up for me..NYX,are US,based,company,they recently set up online store in UK,the german branch which i did look up is based in Dusseldorf,i would have thought (rationally thinking)that the UK,NYX,would object to their items being sold here on ebay,so why are the germans interfering?
Grrr,you know this whole scenario reminds me of one of my fav episoded of Fawlty Towers :P
Is it a coincedence or am I being paranoid but my last sale of NYX,at Christmas,was to a german customer,is this linked?
I feel that i have been targeted somehow and what makes it worse other sellers sell same NYX items(although only within UK) and their auctions are still running?Why they picked on me?
I have contacted one seller who sells NYX about sales to Germany,and he told me that all his makeup on ebay ,is sold solely within UK.Germany,(his other non ebay website sells to Europe though)has different custom rules ie;you not allowed to sell,no make up items that are unboxed,testers or samples!
My head is spinning with all this info ;(
Rsot, thank you,i will peruse the forum about setting up other ebay accounts
Thanks again guys and girls, will let you know if the Warenhandels GMbh replies....seems they are in no hurry!

[oompaloompa]

I had a quick look at these products on ebayuk, I couldnt look at all of them, but in the main the US sellers were selling worldwide and the UK sellers were selling only within uk, then looked at ebay.de and again all the ones I looked at were selling within Germany.

Ok. my personal strategy knowing what I know now, is not to fight it. I would keep your current ebay account and sell other goods on it. I would then, if I wanted to sell this make-up, set up another account, non-linked and sell only within UK, not worldwide. You could sell to UK, everywhere else eg US and block out Europe, but that is for you to decide, I doubt you actually get a huge amount of sales from anywhere other than UK regularly right?

It is not fair or right that you should have to do this, but I think you are very
clever to have taken advice at this stage and looking at these products, the profits are not worth losing an aged account for, this type of product is ten a penny.

Was it something to do with the Germany buyer, probably, they wanted to have proof, in terms of enforcement that you would sell to Germany, there is obviously an issue there.

You owe us a nyx cupcake lipgloss each!!!

[Chiara]

Oompaloompa,how can i ever thank you
The above post was very helpful,but unfortunately i don't have any Nyx cupcake glosses,otherwise you would be very welcome to have some,being sometimes a bit of make up snob,i only use B.Brown,or MAC gloss,im an addict to the vanilla scent!
Ok back on the subject,the last german customer,who bought the NYX pencil, paid me via bank transfer,nothing unusual as i have had customer from France using same method of payment,as apparently Paypal,is not so widely lurved over the water Auction went smoothly,feedback hasnt been left as yet,item was posted on the 29th.12

You are correct most of the customers were from UK,although i had quite a few from Spain,within last year i think i sold to Germany maybe 3 times!
Those people at ItemWarenhandlesGmbh,still have not replied,( I did emailed them again)and i have noticed that 2 other sellers,who were selling same stuff as me got their auctions removed by VeRO,1 of the sellers,has over 15000,positive feedback,so my paranoia has diminished,i think i havent been targeted !
OOps i forgot to mention,that the ebay notice also said :Why did we remove your listing?"yes do tell me!



We were notified that your listing breached a trademark owner's rights by importing an item from another country or region without their permission.

Even if a trademarked item is genuine and legal to sell in your country, you may still need to get permission to sell it in other countries or regions.

Here's more information about our policy:
Importation of Goods Into the United Kingdom or Ireland
Oompaloompa, in my opinion,theres too much confusion with all this trademark stuff and where you cannot sell,sometimes i think you need a law degree,to trade on ebay!


Thank ,thank you again,lol i need an advice on how to create an ebay account that is not linked :D
Chiara x

[rsot]

Chiara, you should pick up the eB ay stealth guide and start new accounts - very simple for you since you have a good grasp on eb ay matters =)

Good to see you taking this step by step.

Looking forward to your contributions.

[oompaloompa]

You dont find out what you can and cannot sell until something like this hits you.

To make another account you need a new bank/card/windows user/ ip/phone/address. The name you use is debatable, it can be the same or a variation or completely different. You are not actually banned from ebay, so you can relax a little, your original account may never be banned, one hopes, but it is always useful to have another account that is not linked just in case and can run concurrently. The good news is whatever happens with this product, you will make money from their decision to hassle you, because you have come to the forum. I would consult the Stealth Book and make another account with bank attached, it will then be up to you if you sell this product and where.

So all these other ebay sellers that got taken down too, they were selling outside of UK?

As for where you imported from, I do not see how they would know this unless they had your supplier info, it may be there is only a German supplier but they cannnot be sure it did not come from US. Where you buy it from should not be an issue, where you sell it to is their business only - that seems strange. They may be reading this, so probably better you dont give them any info here, but you do have the option of a counter-notice if you wish to contest their decision. I personally would not bother unless you have are confident its watertight, otherwise you may have to supply them with your personal info and draw attention to yourself, and as you are hoping to sell just within UK in future, it doesnt seem worthwhile.

[lucrative]

Hi,

There is a way out of this situation - i have done it myself in the past.

Did you buy these from an authorised source? Thats not overly important but does make the process a lot easier.

Do you want to sell off the stock you have left or keep selling this line?

Were the listings that got pulled visible worldwide? did you state in the listing that you would post worldwide?

If your good with people and its worth your while you really need to get in touch with the person who reported you - quite easy as eBay already provided you with who it was - the usually provide a name of the actual person too if you request it.

[Chiara]

Originally Posted by lucrative

Hi,

There is a way out of this situation - i have done it myself in the past.

Did you buy these from an authorised source? Thats not overly important but does make the process a lot easier.

Do you want to sell off the stock you have left or keep selling this line?

Were the listings that got pulled visible worldwide? did you state in the listing that you would post worldwide?

If your good with people and its worth your while you really need to get in touch with the person who reported you - quite easy as eBay already provided you with who it was - the usually provide a name of the actual person too if you request it.

Hiya all and thank you very much for your messages,it sort of calmed me down(being of italian blood Im very hot headed),i did not state in the listings that i will post worldwide but within UK,and some parts of Europe,had some spanish and polish customers no problems.
I just want to get rid of the rest of the stuff not a lot about 50pcs of lipsticks ,4 eyeshadow palettes and 20pcs of pencils!
Yes i do think i will ask for the name of the person who actually reported me on behalf of Warenhandels Gmbh,at present all i have is their email address!And they are taking their own sweet time with replying to my query!

[Chiara]

Originally Posted by oompaloompa

You dont find out what you can and cannot sell until something like this hits you.

To make another account you need a new bank/card/windows user/ ip/phone/address. The name you use is debatable, it can be the same or a variation or completely different. You are not actually banned from ebay, so you can relax a little, your original account may never be banned, one hopes, but it is always useful to have another account that is not linked just in case and can run concurrently. The good news is whatever happens with this product, you will make money from their decision to hassle you, because you have come to the forum. I would consult the Stealth Book and make another account with bank attached, it will then be up to you if you sell this product and where.

So all these other ebay sellers that got taken down too, they were selling outside of UK?

As for where you imported from, I do not see how they would know this unless they had your supplier info, it may be there is only a German supplier but they cannnot be sure it did not come from US. Where you buy it from should not be an issue, where you sell it to is their business only - that seems strange. They may be reading this, so probably better you dont give them any info here, but you do have the option of a counter-notice if you wish to contest their decision. I personally would not bother unless you have are confident its watertight, otherwise you may have to supply them with your personal info and draw attention to yourself, and as you are hoping to sell just within UK in future, it doesnt seem worthwhile.

Oompaloompa, thank you,
The other seller whose listings got taken down was from Ireland,and she was selling these to UK,and Europe,the 2nd seller was also selling these to EU.
The pencils were bought from US seller,and she buys her stuff direct from NYX wholesale.
All this stuff about import and blah,blah is all too complicated for me.
Incidently i had a look tonight at my seller dashboard"(stupid ebay invention)and this is what it says :Parallel Import Violation – Unauthorised Item
High Your policy compliance rating is High
Because you have no severe policy breaches, you are not at risk of eBay taking action against your account or listings.

Avoid violating this policy again and your account will be clear of this violation after 03-Apr-11.
Subject
MC019 eBay Listing Removed: Trademark Breach - Unauthorised Item (441678010

<<having a blonde moment excuse me,but wth is PARALLEL Import Violation,in simple terms without all this ebay gobbledygook!
Ta very much and goodnight

[oompaloompa]

ok jeff explained parallel imports in his post.

one good example of where authorisiation is important is medicines, you go to pharmacy and see a Czech version of your medication, you cant read anything on it, so you see it has a sticker on it giving name and address of an agent in UK (authorised), who has imported this and has a licence to resell it to UK pharmacy, they can add English information leaflet etc.

You are not authorised by company to sell to Germany (or some parts of EU), I cannot see how it is to do with any safety/fa ke fears though, it is purely to do with business, the company wants to only sell to authorised agents, and wants to control the goods resold to certain countries, for business/financial reasons. It may be they already have given someone else clearance to do so and dont want market swamped. It may be that that person who has clearance is behind this and has complained! You can consult a lawyer about it, but you know my opinion!

[vkolek]

Hello to all sellers!

After all your posts I understand that I have a big problem to sell brands on eBay even if I have good suppliers. Because I live in Israel. I have a top rated seller status after 6 month on Ebay. I am selling worldwide kids stuff like Ben 10 Hello Kitty and more. Now I want to take my business to a next stage. It is very difficult to decide which brand to sell because I am selling worldwide only!

I have my listing removed once because of this MC019 issue.

Brands for example that I want to sell : Western Digital, Cooler Master , SkullCandy, Sandisk .

Do you think one of these brands will be Verod me with MC019 thing ?!

[GreenBean]

@vkolek

More than likely you will have troubles. You have a thread going about selling. I recommend you keep as much of your questions there to keep all the answers together.

YOU need to check with each company what they permit for selling. Somone might say it is OK & make a mistake. Check yourself, look closely at the vEro program & prepare carefully.

[vkolek]

Originally Posted by GreenBean™

@vkolek

More than likely you will have troubles. You have a thread going about selling. I recommend you keep as much of your questions there to keep all the answers together.

YOU need to check with each company what they permit for selling. Somone might say it is OK & make a mistake. Check yourself, look closely at the vEro program & prepare carefully.

Thanks, Just finally found the right place to get the answers...

[vkolek]

Originally Posted by Chiara

Oompaloompa, thank you,
The other seller whose listings got taken down was from Ireland,and she was selling these to UK,and Europe,the 2nd seller was also selling these to EU.
The pencils were bought from US seller,and she buys her stuff direct from NYX wholesale.
All this stuff about import and blah,blah is all too complicated for me.
Incidently i had a look tonight at my seller dashboard"(stupid ebay invention)and this is what it says :Parallel Import Violation – Unauthorised Item
High Your policy compliance rating is High
Because you have no severe policy breaches, you are not at risk of eBay taking action against your account or listings.

Avoid violating this policy again and your account will be clear of this violation after 03-Apr-11.
Subject
MC019 eBay Listing Removed: Trademark Breach - Unauthorised Item (441678010

<<having a blonde moment excuse me,but wth is PARALLEL Import Violation,in simple terms without all this ebay gobbledygook!
Ta very much and goodnight

Hi I have same status ! Same problem :(

[zjnkzjen]

Try contact the Owners ... but you may not always have luck ... I never received from them ... and if no reply within 5 days... tell ebay and they will contact on your behalf... and if then nothing ...

maybe try making stealth accoutns and sell on stealth acccounts your stock

Goodluck and wish you fast response chiara

[oompaloompa]

unless someone who sees this post sells those specific brands and lists on the same country sites and sends to the same countries as you, you cannot get a definitive answer. You must either take one of two options, get VERO clearance from brand owner or try a few items and see how it goes. Neither of these are guaranteed to be successful. A good indicator is see how many other sellers are selling these items and to where, if the prices are low and sellers plentiful, it is likely you can sell without issues. The market decides - heavily policed = less sellers/high prices and viceversa..

[oompaloompa]

selling counterfeits or actual brands is not the only pitfall, there is another catagory, of MC019, and it is the most unfair of all, you are NOT selling the brand, you are NOT selling a counterfeit, it is clearly another brand, but it is same type of product and description is similar, anyone that reads listing can see what they are buying from picture. Usually the main brand invented the concept and other brands copied it and are cheaper, their argument is originator intellectual design rights!! The reason they do not reply is because they know they know that they must not put in writing anything that is questionable, if it came to a legal showdown, or at least they dont want that, they know sellers easily give up as there is always another product. We are talking products that even supermarkets stock under their own supermarket brand name, so why dont they sue supermarkets, hmm let me guess...