Account Suspended Over Trademark Issue, Seeking Guidance on Next Steps

[johntusk]

Hello,

I need some advice from experienced sellers who can shed more light on my issue.

I was selling handmade items on Amazon for years, many of which depicted popular characters. My account was recently suspended after a video interview with Amazon. The reason given was that I could not provide a Letter of Authorization (LOA) from a major brand for a trademarked term that appeared in the title of an ASIN I had already deleted from my inventory before the interview. This term was not even registered under my class of goods.

Most of my products did not feature trademarks, and only a few had trademarks in the title. Amazon found just one of a few ASINs "with issues" in my inventory and requested the LOA for it. My account health had no prior strikes within years, except several recently suspected infringments that were resolved.

Before the video call, Amazon’s bot automatically added some words to my product titles, and I was blocked from editing them. From what I’ve heard, this has been happening to a lot of sellers actually. Because of this, I couldn’t remove the trademarks from my listings.

My product niche is very slow-moving, and although there were Chinese sellers in the same category, there was no real competition. I’ve consulted with three reinstatement specialists who have had success in the past, but two declined to take my case, and one is currently trying to help me.

I always expected that brands might send me IP infringement notices (though I thought the chances were low since I used low-risk themes(trademarks), but I never expected Amazon to take action on its own. In the past, Amazon would send "suspected infringement notices" for individual listings, but it wasn’t the final judge on the entire account.

Additionally, I’ve noticed fewer and fewer items in my niche available for sale on FBA. The ones that remain don’t seem to have trademarks, or there’s been some clever wordplay with trademarks.

I currently have three questions:

1.I submitted a Plan of Action (POA) via Account Health, but it was rejected with the same generic response. Should I try emailing them as well?
2.How can I retrieve my goods from FBA? Should I contact them by email, or wait for automatic removal? Right now, I’m blocked from removing the entire inventory.
3.Have there been any recent changes? I’m seeing a lot more accounts being suspended with requests for LOAs. Has it become riskier to continue selling such handmade items, but without mentioning any trademarks or using a wordplay with trademarks.

[james_112233]

Rules and regs are just becoming tighter now. The golden days are over.

[murdered_by_ebay]

the account is dead , FBA inventory is lost

for the future you should run multiple accounts with different items and never hold large stock at FBA but add it to it regularly as any stock at FBA can be seized by amazon anytime

[agent006140]

It is always better to call and talk to a person/
2.How can I retrieve my goods from FBA? Should I contact them by email, or wait for automatic removal? Right now, I’m blocked from removing the entire inventory.
what is automatic removal?removing your physical inventory in AMZN warehouse?
AMZN does not remove your inventory,you have to find a way to have them return or dispose .
If they are blocking your from removal,thats not good,have you violated trademarks infringement or what you have deemed countefeit,it could be destroyed by AMZN or outside party.

[johntusk]

Originally Posted by agent006140

It is always better to call and talk to a person/
2.How can I retrieve my goods from FBA? Should I contact them by email, or wait for automatic removal? Right now, I’m blocked from removing the entire inventory.
what is automatic removal?removing your physical inventory in AMZN warehouse?
AMZN does not remove your inventory,you have to find a way to have them return or dispose .
If they are blocking your from removal,thats not good,have you violated trademarks infringement or what you have deemed countefeit,it could be destroyed by AMZN or outside party.

Yes, my physical inventory is scheduled for automatic removal from AMZN warehouse. But I can't initiate a removal action by myself.
Amazon asks for LOA for a trademark and if I can't supply it, then they think this item is a counterfeit. Trademark does not cover my class of goods, but they do not care. I have a lot of different ASINs on other themes not related to the ASIN in question, so I am wondering how and if I can remove the unaffected goods by their LOA demand? Should I write to "remove-my-inventory@amazon.com" as a next step?
Had no actual IP infringment notices for years.
Amazon constantly asks me by email to remove physical inventory from their warehouse.

[agent006140]

Amazon constantly asks me by email to remove physical inventory from their warehouse.
--------
And you take no action??
How much do you have in its warehouse?
There are cases when law enforcement agents will remove the merchandise,but those are mostly serious offenses.

[johntusk]

In the same email they say that they will return inventory according to the rules of automatic removal policy.
My ASINs are marked to be removed in my account by specific date, but I can't initiate a removal order.
Should I just wait or what action to take?
POA for account reinstatement was rejected

[johntusk]

Originally Posted by murdered_by_ebay

the account is dead , FBA inventory is lost

for the future you should run multiple accounts with different items and never hold large stock at FBA but add it to it regularly as any stock at FBA can be seized by amazon anytime

It seems that trademarks should not be included in the title or images. They can be used as wordplay or placed in different parts of the listing, as long as ads still pick up on the phrases. Once the ads capture these phrases, they can be removed from the listing entirely, and the listing will continue to attract traffic organically and from ads. I had such experience, but did not have ability to implement that in all listings.

[agent006140]

You should call AMZN instead of asking us,we are not AMZN.
I find it hard to believe AMZN will pay to return your merchandise?
If so,then you should NAIL them and make them do it.