Complaints, Takedowns and Anti-Counterfeit

This page explains the three paths for problems with listings of your brand: content complaint, intellectual property takedown, and the anti-counterfeit program: when to use each path, how to file, and the rights of the seller on the other side. This page summarizes the Brand Complaint & Takedown Policy (Brand Complaint and Takedown Policy), which governs.

Choose the right path

Using the wrong path slows the result. Using the right path badly slows it more.

• Content complaint: the listing is wrong but not fake: wrong images, a stuffed title, an inaccurate description, or wrong brand attribution. This is a quality problem. It goes through catalog review and is corrected or suppressed. See Listing Content Standards and Listing Control.
• Intellectual property takedown: the listing infringes your trademark or copyright, or the product is counterfeit. This is a legal matter and runs on the faster takedown schedule, with counter-notice rights for the seller.
• Anti-counterfeit program: you have evidence of systematic counterfeiting: multiple listings, a network of sellers, or test purchases confirming fakes. This path triggers an investigation, not only listing action.

Do not file a content problem as a takedown. A wrong image is not trademark infringement, and filing it as infringement harms your credibility for genuine cases.

How to file a takedown

Requirements: a takedown notice must contain all four items below. A notice missing any item is returned for completion instead of entering the queue.

1. Identification of the right you own: the trademark registration number or the copyrighted work. "My brand" alone is not an identification.
2. Identification of the infringing listing: the URL or listing ID, and what specifically infringes: the mark as used, the copied image, or the counterfeit product.
3. A good-faith statement that you believe the use is unauthorized. This is a legal statement, not a formality.
4. Your contact information and signature. An electronic signature is accepted.

File the complete notice through the brand complaint channel to the brand team. Intake is handled by the brand team as a process, so the completeness of your notice directly determines its speed: a complete notice moves; an incomplete notice is returned.

Counter-notice and seller rights

Takedown is not one-sided.

1. The seller receives notice of what was removed and why.
2. The seller may file a counter-notice identifying the removed listing, stating in good faith that the removal was a mistake or a misidentification, and providing contact information.
3. On a valid counter-notice, the listing is restored unless you seek court or administrative relief within the window stated in the policy.

This process exists because takedown abuse is real. Filing takedowns you know are without basis is abuse of the brand program under the Unauthorized Seller Enforcement Policy, which governs, and may result in enforcement against you.

Repeat infringers

The Platform applies a repeat-infringer policy: sellers who accumulate valid infringement findings face escalating consequences up to permanent removal. The structure is stated in the Brand Complaint & Takedown Policy (Brand Complaint and Takedown Policy), which governs.

Strikes are counted on valid findings, not on filings. A takedown that was successfully counter-noticed is not a strike against the seller. Complaint accuracy is tracked: brand owners whose complaints consistently fail review lose expedited handling.

The anti-counterfeit program

When the problem is systematic, the anti-counterfeit program provides heavier measures, governed by the Brand Anti-Counterfeit Program Policy, which governs

• Test purchases. The Platform purchases suspected counterfeit products and documents what arrives, keeping a clean record of the order, the unboxing, and the comparison against the genuine product.
• Authorization freeze. During an investigation, brand authorizations for the affected brand may be suspended Platform-wide. No new authorized sellers are added until the investigation closes.
• Network action. Where evidence shows coordinated sellers, enforcement runs against the network, not one listing at a time.
• Evidence preservation. Listings, seller records, and communications relevant to the investigation are preserved. Destruction of evidence by a seller under investigation is itself a serious violation.

If you see your product counterfeited as a pattern, do not start with many individual takedowns

1. Gather the pattern: the listings, the sellers, and what you have verified.
2. Contact the brand team with the pattern.
3. Let the investigation run in a coordinated way.

Individual takedowns filed in sequence can alert the network; a coordinated action does not.

If your listing is taken down

If you are a seller whose listing was taken down

1. Read the notice carefully and check whether the claim is valid. Wrong brand attribution does occur, and sometimes the complaint is correct.
2. Either correct the listing and re-list in compliance, or file a counter-notice if the claim is wrong.
3. Keep your authorization evidence current. In a counterfeit investigation, sellers who produce purchase orders and authorizations promptly are cleared promptly.

The effect of brand removal on listings and complaints is governed by the Brand Registry Removal & Termination Policy.