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Hi everyone,

Insight is a wonderful thing and if I could turn the clock back I wouldn’t of brought what I brought.

Basically I brought 500 TWS Bluetooth headphones believing this will be the market I will be selling in. However what I didn’t know about selling these kinds of earbuds is they are already registered on the government website for design rights. So if you list them up using your own picture or stock photo the company who has registered these headphones will just remove them.

I’ve message the company and they said they messaged eBay to let them know it’s okay for me to sell them however after speaking with eBay they don’t have any messages received and won’t let me list them until they get a response.

The thing is the supplier has given me permission to sell the remainder stock I have and I have showed eBay the confirmation from the seller however it’s just not enough.

My listing has been down for about a week now and I’m thinking to myself shall I just sell these as a wholesale joblot on eBay? I’ve tried returning them back to China and the case will be finalised in less than 2 days but I can’t see alibaba allowing me to send them back just from the email they sent me.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Yes so did I. I thought it was perfectly okay to sell them in the UK my supplier said they don’t infringe any rights and are generic items to resell so I was shocked to see the first email I got about design rights. I listed again with different pictures but it still got removed.

I personally think this company is very clever they have branded their own products TANZ RX earbuds and they have certificate in their picture from KL TEK limited who removed my listing twice. The funny thing is on their address it says KL TEK and address is same on government website for design rights so I think they designed a number of products on the government website to eliminate competition so they can rack in all the sales for their branded products.

But anyone in the U.K. wanting to sell tws earbuds be really careful I won’t be touching them again. I’ll try and offload them as wholesale job lot see what I can get for them.

If it was 10 I would just bin them but its 2 big boxes sat in my hall way and postage to get rid of these would be at least £100 if I can get a couple of hundred it’s better than nothing and I agree selling them individually is a no goer. I’ll take whatever I can and just learn and move on from it.

I won’t be binning 300pcs it’s worth quite a bit and if it was cash I wouldn’t bin it. I’d rather get something then nothing. Lesson learnt buy smaller units next time as you suggested not 500

Their on Facebook now and got a bit of interest but everyone lives to far away I said I’ll post them with a tracking number if paid through PayPal but nobody wants to pay before receiving goods.

Tws F9-5c Bluetooth headphones 2bh if selling on eBay U.K. I would stay well clear of all these kinds of headphones especially what this company KL TEK limited are doing.

Are you selling on ebay U.K. on ebay U.K. these kinds of listings are being pulled down every single day. Let me show you the email ebay sent me and conversations from myself to kl tek limited.

Hello account name,
We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our VeRO Design Right Policy. Infringing on a design right is not allowed
What activity didn't follow the policy


More specific details are provided below.
What you need to do next
You can't relist items we've ended. Please ensure your current and future listings follow this policy.

What is the policy
- Your listing was reported by KL Tek Limited for violating their design rights.  eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme offers intellectual property owner(s) a way to report listings that they believe infringe on their rights 
- Offering a product that infringes on design rights is not allowed
- If you believe a mistake has been made, you will need to contact the rights owner directly. If the rights owner approves your appeal, please have them contact us directly to reinstate your listing(s)
You can send an email to:
kltek-ip@outlook.com

How this affects your account
Because we have sent you an educational notice about this policy previously, we want to give you this final warning.

- Listings that didn't follow this policy have been ended.
- We have credited all associated fees except for payments processing fees and the final value fee for your listing(s).

Listings that don't follow this policy in the future will be ended. In addition, there will be a temporary 3-day restriction placed on your account, and your other listings will be hidden from search during this period. All fees paid or payable for listings that are ended and/or hidden from search will not be refunded or otherwise credited to your account.
Why we have this policy
This policy helps to ensure that eBay users trust our marketplace, and comply with the law.

More information and help
https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies...rogram?id=4349
Listings not following policy
Listing number - TWS Wireless Bluetooth Headphones Earphones Earbuds in-ear For iPhone Samsung UK

We appreciate your understanding.
Thanks,

eBay

Please don't reply to this message. It was sent from an address that doesn't accept incoming email.

Dear Kltek-ip,

Today on logging into my eBay account I found out my eBay listing has been removed from the ebay site for breaching Ip rights which I completely unaware of and I’m so sorry if this is the case.

The eBay item listing number is 123456789 and the title for the generic product I was selling is

TWS Wireless Bluetooth Headphones Earphones Earbuds in-ear For iPhone Samsung

I would like to know what I can do in order to re sell my item without unintentionally breaching any IP rights.

I have spoken to eBay and they have no issues with the product I was selling as it’s generic F9 Bluetooth headphones product and multiple eBay sellers are selling these products on the platform.

Big companies like excursy2021 and flyagain_store and many other sellers are selling this products as it’s allowed for resell but somehow I have somehow breached IP rights which I am completely unaware of.

I would appreciate your help in this serious matter on where I have gone wrong when trying to list my item up for sale on the eBay platform and what I can do to re list the item without breaching any IP rights.

I look forward to hearing from you very soon please kindly reply to my email address 123456789@gmail.com and I am so sorry if I have breached any IP rights. I hope you can help me and guide me in the right direction of being able to successfully list the item without breaching any IP rights.

Kindest Regards

Dear Kltek Limited,

After speaking to eBay I understand where we as a business have gone wrong. You have registered several designs on the government website.

We did not use your design in fact we didn’t know you as a company existed if I’m honest we used stock photos and used our own text on the photos.

However we understand the shape of the image and colour is the same and this could of persuaded eBay to remove our listing. If we knew this before listing our item then we would not of done this.

EBay would like you to respond to us in order to help us with listing the item. As the listing has been removed income for me and my family is now with hold and we run our shop as a very small family business.

Please do reply asap I know eBay is a big marketplace and their are many competitors selling the same items but from our understanding we believe we can sell the item but we have to be careful not to infringe companies trademark designs which we can only apologise for it’s not intentional but please do advise us further.

Kindest Regards

Dear Kltek limited,

After reading your copyright grounds on the picture on the government website we can see our product picture is not the same as yours.

We can see the digital text and reflection in the picture is different colour and the design is not the same size and not the same design ie the case is completely different when zoomed in an earbuds on top have no swirly pattern as shown in your design.

You are covered under the disclaimer for

Disclaimer
No protection is sought for the digital information/lighting which appears in the design. The digital lighting and digital numbers from our product to your product is completely different it’s not the same.

No claim is made for the reflection which appears in the design. Your reflection is completely different colour and different numbers to our reflection image.

I think a big mistake has been made and my listing should not be removed it’s not a copy of brand product but generic product to be re sold which is allowed after reading your terms and conditions they do not match up to our picture created their fore our listing should be active still.

Excursy2021 17,000 items sold on the eBay platform at 70,000 feedback if their was an issue with his design which is the exact same model as our design then they wouldn’t be able to continue on selling the same product.

Please email eBay and ourselves and if we have made a mistake somewhere please let us know it will be rectified asap but from what we see we can’t see fault from our end.

Please do reply back in this important matter

Kindest Regards

Reply from KL TEK Limited

Hi Name,

Thanks for the email, our companies own more than 150 designs and trademarks globally. Unfortunately, our designs have been replicated by many Chinese factories and other sellers over the last few years so our team decided to start taking action by registering all our designs and trademarks. I am not sure which design or which platform you have but we have now an active team working with many online platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy and etc looking for any violation of our products. We provide these platforms with more than at least 3 legal documents and be rest assured that these platforms do not remove listings unless they have been given all the necessary information and documents.

Please do not think this anything personal against you or your business, we have no intention targeting anyone but we have many sellers who buy our products and sell on these platforms. There are also sellers on these online platforms who we are working closely as they are either our clients or our partners and we have to look after their ours and their rights.

Kind Regards
Clive Martin
Head of Intellectual Property

Hi Clive,

Thank you so much for your reply I do appreciate it. When you say designs do you mean image designs? as from what I’m aware KL TEK did not invent TWS headphones and TWS is allowed to be resold eBay have also confirmed this to myself however images are copyrighted by KL TEK limited.

I did read the illustrations on the government website for the following image design number 6112636 the following Disclaimer
No protection is sought for the digital information/lighting which appears in the design. No claim is made for the reflection which appears in the design.

I also checked the trademark for the image and it is trademarked under “wireless earphones” not “TWS headphones” which is what I’m selling.

From my understanding the image I used was a stock photo from my current supplier the digital information is not the same information as KL TEK design however eBay have confirmed it was for the lighting which appears in the design. I was suggested by eBay to list with a new complete image design which does not breach KL TEK image rights and to let KL TEK know this. Also the reflection of the image was not the same as the image I had before.

I would like to apologise for using your lighting in my photo it wasn’t intentional I’ve brought many things on different platforms and most of the items I have brought all have white bright images so I thought this would be a good photo for selling however I now understand the reason for the listing removal and now understand how to list without breaching KL TEK limited image rights.

I would appreciate you kindly replying back to my email as their are some unclear questions which still need answering.

Kindest Regards

Name,

Design can mean anything that is the same or very similar to a patented product. Unfortunately, we cannot go into too much details and I hope you understand. TWS is just a term used for bluetooth earphone technology and is not an actual product invented by anyone.

We hope we have answered your questions and please double check your listings and designs before listing them as I have no power over reporting listings and it is done by my colleagues and I certainly don't want you to get into any trouble.

Kind Regards
Clive Martin
Head of Intellectual Property

Hi Clive,

Yes I understand you can’t go into to much detail. I have been advised to send you some pictures which I forwarded to eBay about the disclaimer for the design on the government website.

No protection is sought for the digital information/lighting which appears in the design. No claim is made for the reflection which appears in the design.

EBay have told myself if I follow and comply with these disclaimers in my images used I won’t experience any issues with the item being listed it is because unfortunately I didn’t follow lighting which appears in the design.

Please see attached photos and kindly share your view on them.

The bottom photo was our photo.

Kindest Regards

Hi Clive,

As KL TEK never designed the product TWS wireless earbuds. Are we still allowed to sell the product? If so how can we do this?

It seems like our listing is the only listing being reported and we don’t think it’s fair as it’s generic headphones which should be able to sold for re sell. Please do reply back.

Kindest Regards

Hi Name,

Thanks for your email. Did you have another listing removed? We do not just target a certain company or person. If the sellers are not our partners or our clients and they are using our designs then their listings will get flagged.

We work with many big companies like Samsung and Apple, we designed many different types of electronics in the last 10 years but only in the last 2 years we had to start registering our designs to protect them as we noticed many different companies and factories started to copy them so we are not just targeting you. I can speak to my colleagues and let you sell your current stock before being reported.

Can you let me know which design you are selling, how many of them left and which platforms are you using?

Kind Regards
Clive Martin
Head of Intellectual Property

Hi Clive,

Yes my second listing was removed yesterday and I don’t want to lose my eBay account but if I get reported again I will end up getting suspended which I really don’t want to.

I am selling TWS Wireless Bluetooth Headphones Earphones Earbuds in-ear For iPhone Samsung UK on eBay I have just over 300 items left I won’t be ordering anymore it hasn’t worked out and I understand this.

If you could kindly speak to your colleague and kindly speak to eBay to allow my listing to be reinstated I would greatly appreciate it.

My user ID on eBay is 123456789 once I sell all my stock I will not purchase anymore.

I have sent a photo of the remaining stock I have and photos used on eBay.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kindest Regards

Hi name,

I have just left a message for them and gave them your name and product details. You can go ahead and list them as we don't want you damage your account and at the same time end up with a lot if stock. Please let me know when your listing is up so I can make my colleagues aware.

Kind Regards
Clive Martin
Head of Intellectual Property

Hi Clive,

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I thought TWS was just an acronym for the type of earphone (Total Wireless Stereo), not a company. What am I missing here?

Maybe sh1t's different in the UK? lol

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Sorry it's a pet hate and cant help myself....it's 'bought' not 'brought'. I also have the same problem will the misuse of 'borrow' and 'lend' but that's another story.

Anyway, if you could ditch them as a job lot for something close to your outlay then that would be the best way forward, selling them individually is clearly going to cause you problems.

I've had stock in the past which I've been vero'd over and sat on it thinking that I'd unload it somehow in the future. I've stared and stared at it until for the sake of closure I've binned it. Which reminds me, I still have a load of CD cases in the loft which need to go. Free to anyone who wants them. :)

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Sometimes your sanity has to come first. When I first started out I became obsessed with unloading everything. I've seen me making pennies on some items just because I couldn't bring myself to simply bin them. Not the greatest hourly rate.....

Here's the rub. You will do it again but maybe not on so many units. It's all part of the diversification of an expanding business. Just got to keep it all in perspective - effective stock and time management, profit over principles.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Flea market... if yall have those in the UK lol

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Can you sell them off facebook / craigslist / mercari?

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

what kind of earphones are them?

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

https://www.ebay.it/sch/i.html?_from...pg=50&_fosrp=1

plenty over ebay. i usually sell in that category and usually this kind of items called TWS, that include all china's no brand bluetooth earphones free about design right

this thing have no sense

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I've just googled KL Tek Limited, you're being taken for a ride.

This is their Registered Office. https://ghostmail.co.uk/61-bridge-street/

Companies House is worth a look too.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

What do you suggest me to do here something is not right with all of this and this company kl tek are taking every listing down on ebay. Proof is if you go to terapeak research on ebay and type tws Bluetooth headphones you will see a list click on a number of listings and the listings won’t open. I need some help where I go from here my gut instinct had been telling me something is not right for a while.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

It looks like their using ghost Mail as their registered forward address paying a small fee a year. Whatever happens I got plans. I’ve been in touch with suppliers and they have told me to sell private label headphones so these headphones don’t infringe any designs. I’m going to brand them myself already have a logo which my supplier likes this is the path I’m going down now. This is my new plan for the new year.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Here's your reporter.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384508347...sAAOSwtDVhmW68

https://www.onbuy.com/gb/shop/tanz-outlet/

https://www.tanzoutlet.co.uk/

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Don't forget the disclaimers of "Warning eb link" before putting up the eb auction links please :)

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

You keep saying that and nobody listens to you.
Report me if you think it's your place to police my posts.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I don't police anyone - it's just on the forum faq list - it's not a personal attack

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

You've just told me what to do, that's policing my post IMO.
Anyway, Bore off you pointless bot, like I said if you can't cope then get an admin to edit it.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

list again or move on. But i repeat this thing have no sense, look how many sellers sell on ebay that model, and the design can't be registered

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

You will register a logo, then some sellers will sell them without and you will not go stop anyone
If you are able to register the design is a another story. But it's impossible with a china model TWS economic

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Here is a list of designs kl tek limited have registered on the gov website.

https://www.registered-design.servic...designsbyowner

https://www.registered-design.servic...designsbyowner

I would still say be careful selling any of these kinds of designs on ebay U.K. they claim to have certain partners who can sell their designs but other sellers who don’t have partnerships with them they will take your listing down if your selling these kinds of designs I’m just trying to let people be aware.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Wow guys it’s that easy. I was just registering a design from Alibaba total cost £50 just copied an image made a claim for no reflection and no lighting and design is now officially mine. I did not pay the £50 but if I brand my own product I will do this just because it will give me security selling the items. I noticed the design which I’m going to brand is not a design of any other company. The thing is if other sellers want to sell the product without the logo I will not report people like KL TEK have done I’m not that sort of person I would just register it so I can sell my future items without any issues.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

You have extremely aggressive and smart competition. Personally, I would move on. The other option is the vero their listings. That is a battle that is sounds like you are not ready for.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Another update I have paid £50 for a design for the products I’m selling. Ebay have told me if I can supply a document/certificate from the government for the design they will reinstate my listing. I have paid the fee and now waiting for the design to be approved and finalised if this works and anyones listings get removed just register a design show ebay and your be good to go. I will update if it’s approved. Please note if it’s approved and ebay reinstate my listing I will not report any competitors for selling the same model I will be selling it’s not my intentions.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Trust me I’m ready for any battle even if this design doesn’t get approved I will be happy that I done everything in my power to reinstate my listing if it works it shows that all ebay sellers are doing is paying a small fee for a certificate to remove competition and anyone will be able to do it it’s a big IF tho.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

The battle would not get you the ability to sell anything. It simply would cost your BETTER competitors some money, rob you of time, some money and a lot of negativity in your life.

If you want to be a major seller in competitive markets, these are the constant annoyances you have to deal with. It is not the approach I would take myself.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I understand nobody wants negativity in their life and if I would of known all the troubles I would of gone through to list the items I have I wouldn’t of purchased them. However I have to get rid of the stock I have. Binning them is an option but it’s something I won’t be doing so I need to sell Facebook is hopeless Amazon I have no experience and I know Amazon listings get pulled down as kl tek have said so for a small fee of £50 for a fingers crossed certificate to reinstate my listing is worth the price considering the value of stock I have. Would I buy these headphones again probably not if I’m honest.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

They will just remove your listings again.... and again and again.

Anyone can file for a vero Once you have that you send ebay an email will all item numbers that need to be removed... Ebay is not going to question the source of notice. etsy, amazon, etc.... all the same.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

According to ebay if I have certificate for the design rights and register for the vero program then I am able to list the item this is what ebay have told me. So if someone attempts to remove my listing then they wouldn’t be able to because I have certificate from government for the design at the moment I don’t have the certificate or document waiting for approval from the government.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Good luck....

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I’m definitely going to need it thanks for your replies.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

What the next step is vero removal of trademark. The keywords that people find your item. The game gets complex.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

As I said if I my design is approved by the government and I receive documentation/certificate for my design I can register on ebay vero program so if a company like KL TEK report me it won’t be removed as I will be registered on the vero program with documentation and certificates for my own design. It’s all IFS at the moment as I don’t have anything but ebay have told me if I do this my listing will be reinstated.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Sure.... Just now we had two items removed from amazon that WE MANUFACTURER. The claim is "possible intellectual property infringement" Last week we had items removed and the email address was a QQ address for the word "extreme" being a trade mark. The month before the same QQ email address removed listings because of the world "sharp" It can be a never ending battle.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I’m sorry to hear your listings was removed from
Amazon. I definitely understand what your saying if this situation is resolved then their might be something else which pops up ie a trademark word in title which has been copyrighted it’s ridiculous really that people go to these lengths just to eliminate competition.

Have you tried to list the items up without the word “sharp” and the word “extreme” I already know the word “extreme” is trade marked as my supplier who is going to brand my earbuds showed me a picture of a product he had branded and the word “extreme” was on the product.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

I’m just wondering if you could trademark the words sharp and extreme example of sharp is trademarked as Sharp maybe you could trademark it as sharp or SHARP I don’t know just an idea.

The design I’ve registered is from Alibaba but it’s different to KL teks designs ie digital information, reflection so I’m hoping because it’s different it will be approved but I’m not holding my breath and if doesn’t get approved I’ve only lost £50 not a big deal.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Sharp as in "knife blade is extremely sharp"

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

It looks like your situation is different to mine as you manufacture your products and sell on different platform. Do you sell on ebay as well? If I kept on relisting my listing on ebay then I would be suspended eventually. I have had so many warnings tho so it definitely is the case the older the account the more reluctant ebay are to suspending it.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Im not saying you can't do it. I am saying for 500 items, it may not be worth the battle when you have a very aggressive competitor. Personally, I would find different items to sell. Maybe buy sample lots and test sell.

Good luck!

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

If your design is registered at the Intellectual Property site and it is registered to you at the email address on Ebay then you can claim malicious interference in trade. Ebay take this very seriously and could result in their account being suspended

But (there is always a but) the pictures that you use on Ebay must be immediately identifiable as those used on the registration.

Ebay may take the view that the job is not worth the candle and suspend you both

If you have registration it is a good idea to contact the VeRO department. They may well build you a profile to your registration

All is not lost but you will need to work for it

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Thank you for your reply really appreciate it I hope this design is approved it said it can take up to 8 weeks to confirm it.

Re: Well this isn’t going to well
 

Ours took 8 weeks. We paid more for the pictures than the registration - Got everything back in 3 weeks