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Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I was selling items with popular trademarked characters for years on Amazon.
Previously I could put trademarks in title, some years later I had to make some kind of word play by changing trademarked terms. And recently, I've opened a new account, published about 30 items with 15 that had depiction of characters from pop culcure and my account was deactivated for sec 3 right after 1 month after publishing.
There were absolutly no trademarked words or graphic trademarked symbols in listing details, photos, etc. The only possible way of detaction was AI and human check.
I also see much less competition in my niche and Chinese sellers are falling from such business practices, too. There are still a lot of unlicensed products with reviews and selling history.
Looks like now Amazon does not really want such bussiness on their platform.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Was it possible that you were linked to previous accounts?

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I've opened a new account, published about 30 items with 15 that had depiction of characters from pop culcure
-------------
Could they be using AI to check the pictures of the characters.
I read somewhere which said to teach AI 'this is a dog',it shows AI 1000 pictures of dogs!

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

what kind of sec 3 deactivation was it?

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Zero.
I've never listed this items on my previous account.
The setup is made on new PC, dedicated white unique IP and real docs. I run 1 amazon/etsy acc per 1 pc.

Other sellers may have listed similiar looking items on their accounts, but the combination of those I had on my account was unique, and I have added some new features to them, making these items very different from Chinese competition. Photos and infographics were very different and mine was better, as the product itself.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Yes, unfortunately

I know a seller who have posted a year ago a costume of "Red panda" on German Amazon without labeling it as red panda and was hit by suspected infrigment notice. I've thought that his niche and brand may be policed highly by Amazon. Other items he listed were without possible infrigment.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Same as I've got on my other suspected account, but there was an actual usage of trademarked terms in one of the titles.

"deceptive, illegal activity that harms our customers"

But in the currect deactivation, the suspention letter was super short.
And I did not receive any "suspected infrigment" notices and made any sales or shipped inventory to FBA.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Generic suspension message - sometimes these messages don't even truly point out the issue.

"I also see much less competition in my niche" - did you receive any recent purchase from possible competition?

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

keep doing it,AMZN could suspend your account,just like Ebay

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Amazon has deactivated account, then asked for utility bill to verify identity and have sent deactivation email for sec 3

No sales on the account. Competitors are calm and items were not available for purchase (no stock)

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Going to be tough to get the account in working order again

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Yes, I know
Just sharing my experience about images, trademarks and AI
I am ending my game with trademarks on Amazon
I've expected that this time would come eventually

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

The experience is always welcomed - always tragic to see accounts go down but yes, constant task to identify why, how, etc from AZ :(

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I don't think whatever you're doing is triggering it. Utility bill requests after about a month of account opening is usually an issue with account registration. I've encountered this many many times last year until I started using real information.

Trademark issues usually start with an impact to your account health score that leads to warnings and then an appeal-able account deactivation on the first violation.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

what ever happen to that lady in Germany,she is printing German auto logos she designed or copied on t shirts,police busted in and caught her redhanded,her pic shows the design on the screen and her couch has a T shirt she just made>
The next day she went to the police station,it has all the evidence on the table?

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

You're quite good with the research of net info - no links to updated story found? I just let that story fade from memory

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

here
https://www.aspkin.com/forums/genera...st-letter.html

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

No, utility bill request occured after a little bit more then 2 months of account creation day and more then 1 month after adding USD bank data from Payoneer.

It happened exactly 30 days after adding listings on Amazon.

Account is created with real ID, not a stelth account.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Exactly 30 days - interesting on the timing - timed security flag could have been tripped

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Maybe Amazon waited to confirm my intention in products I want to sell and to see all my next moves.
ChatGPT can now easily identify characters even just by their silhouettes.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

The account owner, along with a translator, had a phone call with Amazon (ID verification).
No in-depth questions were asked — only general questions about the account.
All questions were answered correctly, of course.

Despite this, the result was returned within 12 hours after the call — with the same outcome: “deceptive and fraudulent activity.”

From a legal perspective, I believe Amazon cannot rightfully accuse me of using copyrighted images, especially considering that only automated AI systems might flag such content, without any actual trademarks or logos being used.
Moreover, this action was taken as a preventive measure, even though the account is brand new and had no sales at all.

With all that in mind, I strongly discourage selling items that reference well-known brands or IP.
You can get suspended without clear reason, even if your listings are not infringing in the traditional legal sense.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I believe everything is bot / ai run at this point and the sensitivity has been turned up on 'fraudulent' items, even if they are not.....

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

OP can you explain what you did? You put like apple in the title or something?

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I have handcrafted products that have silhouettes of popular characters.
No trademarks or registered logos used anywhere on the account, only fans could recognize them.
Account was deactivated after a month of publishing these ASINs as FBA listings.
No sales on the ac****. Also had some unbraded themes of items to mix with "trademarked".
I was banned just on the image basis without actual pointing from Amazon to the cause of suspension even during the ID verification call.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

AZ is acting on the assumption that it "could" be an infringement, so they act like it is. Then you have to prove it isn't. They know proving a negative is almost impossible.

Always remember, AZ says you are guilty first, until you prove your innocence, and even with legit proof, AZ still has the right to say too bad, so sorry, have a nice life.

We all yearn for the good old days of the 2010's and earlier.

PhD

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

Excellent clarification.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I can confirm the system has changed and is much more stringent. I listed a non vero item and the system immediately flagged it mistakenly thinking it was a trademark, i think it is ai

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I hope it is not that picky, I do not plan to list anything risky but have heard ebay is much more sensitive these days, especially with name brand products. I may start with house goods or something small first.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

i have never tried to list risky items, just playing it slow and safe to see if the account will last long-term. I think slow is best.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

What are you listing? At least categorywise...

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I’m a man. Up to this day, I haven’t heard anything from the brand or the court, but things like this take forever in Germany. I’ll keep the thread updated.

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

That user is no longer active it seems

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

I have handcrafted products that have silhouettes of popular characters
--
what are these popular characters?
Micky Mouse,Minnie Mouse??

Re: Trademark detection system upgraded
 

The user who post that hasn't been active in awhile - either solved issue or is gonzo /shrug