and serialized items like electronics (phones) anything with ip and proprietary components
I don’t know the law around selling variety packs, but the listing with 16 cans of Coca-Cola can’t be legal. The seller didn’t even put Coca-Cola in their title because they knew it would be taken down. They are selling Coca-Cola under their brand; if they got caught, I think they would face a hefty lawsuit. ![]()
That certainly is the very definition of fraud.
Isn’t it Amazing that sellers like @Sundance has to deal with all the BS bots gone wild (along with the rest of us), and the countless sellers like this variety ■■■ wipe skate on by…
SOH (Shake Our Heads)
Is it scary to put important things in the hands of AI? YEA
Imagine if the rest of the world ran like Amazon? Coming to a theater near you soon.
This seller has two Accounts selling the same products. They are even going as far as putting branded products into their own branded boxes.
BeeQ Store products are being sold by American Health and WESELY CHAPEL STORE, AKA Tampa Chicken & Philly Steak LLC, both owned by the same seller.
In these examples, it is very much illegal. However, the law is clear that this is strictly a matter between Amazon, the IP Owners, the State, and any defrauded customers. Other than a quick message to your State Attorney General about deceptive marketing and false advertising, you should stay out of it.
Then no you have no trademark infringement. Maybe, Copyright… Perhaps, trade dress… You would need a lawyer, and maybe a Federal case to figure it all out.
Let me add one more thing…Amazon will ultimately back out if pushed too hard. They will say it’s between me and the other seller.
I don’t know if it’s still a thing…but I was also offered to enroll in the Transparency program through Amazon. That meant that every ASIN I enrolled got a sticker with a unique serial number. I was required to add that serial number to an item that I enrolled no matter WHERE I sold the item. $500 later and a bunch of stickers, I said “never mind” and unenrolled the items one by one…but it got rid of my competitors.
I too took a non-branded, had no UPC code item and attached my brand. These are items you too can find, buy etc…yes, they key is to have the $$'s and know where. Then I also have handmade and factory level I designed it items. I did the dumbass thing and assisted someone to get started on Amazon…with the understanding that we would not interfere with each other. There were plenty of patterns to go around… I sold blue roses, she’d sell red roses. I’d sell seashells, she’d sell roosters…all on table linens. BUT here came her son…and he “sold one too” under my patterns and listings. So I countered. Then he played the penny game… So I got branded. Once I figured that all out, and sent him a certified cease and desist letter…he refused and game on. They got suspended for selling counterfeit items. Son wrote a demanding email to our supplier and his attorney called me to see if we could come to an agreement. They are in Texas, me in Alabama. All along I kept both of our stateside sources/suppliers informed of what was going on. I didn’t make a move until the price on Amazon went below my cost to sell the item which meant our suppliers were the only ones making money. Neither one understood – or probably cared – (foreigners), and neither one refused to sell to Texas. So I took it in my hands. When the attorney called, I said “No deal because they can’t be trusted and I’m not going through this again. The simple permanent solution is to state to Amazon that they will never list another Doily Boutique branded item on my listing and Amazon will release their account and funds.” What I won’t or don’t do is go after their listing even if it’s the same item I’ve branded. That’s the agreement we had…let customer service, search engines and price get the sales. Transparency and the enrollment of my Brand helped push that along. Jurisdication to sue me would be the Federal Court in Montgomery…not Dallas TX where they live. So it’s expensive to sue.
For years…I got wrapped up about reporting violations like what you found…Disney mainly because that was easy to find. Now I gotta let it go…I could be on Amazon alone all day and find violations.
I ain’t got time for that.
Sad but true.
Amazon’s impotence is particularly sad in view of
Spending more than $900M USD – About Amazon in 2021 alone.
I do not know how these folks get away with it.
Amazon has closed my listings for Atlanta Olympics International Artist Designed Coke bottles and 1930’s Pepsi Soda Fountain Glasses for SIPV.
@HobbesIsMyTiger I’ve been following and hoping someone would nail this for you…
It is illegal to rebrand without permission from the rights owner. It is IP theft.
It doesn’t matter where the item is sourced or how it is supplied.
As soon as an item is branded, not just the item or packaging but the entirety of the rights owner’s process then becomes protected under IP law: quality control, any extras not obvious from the outside, logo, trademarks, UPC–ALL IP of the RO is stolen by unpermitted rebranding, even if both the RO and rebrander source the same item from the same supplier.
This is not an Amazon issue–it is a civil matter for the legal system and should be pursued from that perspective–except that the rebrander is misrepresenting their (your) item to the customer, which Amazon might or might not care about, and cannot guarantee that the Buyer will receive what they advertise.
It is unlikely that the rebrander would be found so criminally culpable that they would serve white-collar jail time, but that is not the standard for whether something is illegal. Unpermitted rebranding is IP theft, every time.
ETA: Just because “someone else does it” and does not get stopped, caught, or penalized, is also not the standard for whether something is illegal or not. ![]()
This is what I thought, but I don’t actually know and I wanted to check. The consensus on this thread seems to be arguing the other way though. I’ll have to hit up a lawyer.
This is illegal.
Coco Cola can sue for trademark infringement.
Well put.
This is a tort.
It’s a violation of Federal truth in advertising law. But I doubt that the FTC wants to start down the Amazon listing enforcement path, due to budgetary constraints. Much easier for them to let Coke police their IP.







