Seeking Advice: Handling IP Violations for Licensed Collegiate Apparel on Amazon
Hi everyone,
I’m reaching out for some advice regarding an ongoing issue we're facing with our Amazon seller account. I work at a major retailer of lacrosse equipment and apparel. We also sell collegiate apparel featuring the logos and names of colleges where lacrosse is played.
Here’s a brief overview of our process:
The schools license their branding to large clothing companies like Champion.
We purchase this licensing from Champion.
We then print the collegiate logos and branding on Champion clothing items (tees, pants, hoodies, etc.).
We are fully compliant with all licensing agreements and legally allowed to sell these products.
However, when we list these items on Amazon, they are quickly taken down due to intellectual property (IP) violations. The problem seems to stem from Amazon’s automated system, which detects college names and logos in our product titles and images. Because our store is not Notre Dame (or any other college) or Champion, the system flags our listings as potential IP violations, leading to account health issues and the removal of our products.
Here’s where I’m hoping for some guidance:
Has anyone encountered a similar issue? How did you address it?
Are there specific steps or documentation required to prove that we have the right to use these logos?
Can we work directly with Amazon to prevent these automatic removals?
We’ve tried to resolve this through Amazon’s standard channels but haven’t seen much progress. Any insights or advice from those who’ve navigated similar challenges would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Thanks!
Seeking Advice: Handling IP Violations for Licensed Collegiate Apparel on Amazon
Hi everyone,
I’m reaching out for some advice regarding an ongoing issue we're facing with our Amazon seller account. I work at a major retailer of lacrosse equipment and apparel. We also sell collegiate apparel featuring the logos and names of colleges where lacrosse is played.
Here’s a brief overview of our process:
The schools license their branding to large clothing companies like Champion.
We purchase this licensing from Champion.
We then print the collegiate logos and branding on Champion clothing items (tees, pants, hoodies, etc.).
We are fully compliant with all licensing agreements and legally allowed to sell these products.
However, when we list these items on Amazon, they are quickly taken down due to intellectual property (IP) violations. The problem seems to stem from Amazon’s automated system, which detects college names and logos in our product titles and images. Because our store is not Notre Dame (or any other college) or Champion, the system flags our listings as potential IP violations, leading to account health issues and the removal of our products.
Here’s where I’m hoping for some guidance:
Has anyone encountered a similar issue? How did you address it?
Are there specific steps or documentation required to prove that we have the right to use these logos?
Can we work directly with Amazon to prevent these automatic removals?
We’ve tried to resolve this through Amazon’s standard channels but haven’t seen much progress. Any insights or advice from those who’ve navigated similar challenges would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Thanks!
3 replies
Emet_Amazon
Hello @Seller_ZD303A7JfweRA,
Thank you for posting your concerns with intellectual properties.
Quickly address this, at this time there is not. I have passed your concerns and situation to the appropriate teams to review the situation as a whole. You will likely not hear anything from them. This has been requested quite a few times.
Here’s a brief overview of our process:
The schools license their branding to large clothing companies like Champion.
We purchase this licensing from Champion.
We then print the collegiate logos and branding on Champion clothing items (tees, pants, hoodies, etc.).
We are fully compliant with all licensing agreements and legally allowed to sell these products.
However, when we list these items on Amazon, they are quickly taken down due to intellectual property (IP) violations. The problem seems to stem from Amazon’s automated system, which detects college names and logos in our product titles and images. Because our store is not Notre Dame (or any other college) or Champion, the system flags our listings as potential IP violations, leading to account health issues and the removal of our products.
The first inquiry, not being aware of the specifics of the situation and phrasing on the authorizations, but does Champion have authorization to approved your use of both their brand and these teams in conjunction with one another on amazon? If not, you may need to seek if this authorization extends to amazon.
I also wanted to inquire if you have any cases, or if you could share an ASIN so I can look further into the situation to see if there's any additional guidance I can provide?
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Emet.
Emet_Amazon
Hello @Seller_ZD303A7JfweRA,
Thank you for posting your follow up information.
Yes, we have the proper authorization to list these items, and Champion has the authorization to allow us to do so. Is this something where we should reach out to champion/the brand that we are having trouble listing?
I don't have an ASIN, because any ASIN we post that is collegiate branded gets removed.
As previously noted there's no way to prevent these situations, you can only address them reactively at this time when they appear. Regarding the ability to assist further in this situation we would need an ASIN or case to review and offer guidance on a specific situation, otherwise, I can only advise that at this time when these situations arise to provide your authorization information. If you have already done this and it is not being accepted to provide the related case so I can look further into the situation and ensure the appropriate teams are reviewing the situation and if needed request additional information on their decision if available.
We in this space have little to no visibility into your account outside of what is provided in this space so as mentioned more information would be needed to further support you in this situation.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Emet.
