Quick answer. An intellectual property complaint is a notice from a rights owner that your listing or product infringes their copyright, trademark or patent. When Amazon accepts the notice, it removes the reported content and records a violation on your Account Health page. Your response depends on the type of claim. You can prove authenticity with invoices or order IDs, fix the listing, ask the rights owner for a retraction, reply with reasons in a patent case, or file a counter-notice in a US copyright case. Amazon acts even when a seller infringes without knowing, and it terminates repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.
IP complaints remove listings quickly, cost Account Health points and can stack into a suspension. They also reach sellers who sell genuine products, because the claim can concern your photos, your title or your brand field rather than the item in the box. The first decision is always the same. Identify the type of IP named in the notice and what part of your listing it targets, because each type has its own resolution path and the wrong path wastes the time you have.
The Three Main Types of Intellectual Property on Amazon
Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy describes three main types of IP rights. When you sell on Amazon, you must comply with all applicable laws and Amazon policies and may not violate the IP rights of brands or other rights owners. Violations may result in loss of selling privileges or other legal consequences.
Copyright
Copyright protects original works of authorship. On Amazon that most often means product photos, videos and written descriptions. Amazon’s guidance for rights owners says you can generally use your own copyrighted images on product detail pages, but you should not take images from other sources and add them to a detail page without the rights owner’s permission. When you add your own copyrighted image or text to a detail page, you grant Amazon and its affiliates a license to use it, and other sellers can list identical products on that page, even if you stop selling the product.
Trademark
A trademark is a word, symbol or design, or a combination of them, that a company uses to identify its goods or services. Trademark law exists to prevent customer confusion about the source of goods. On Amazon, trademarks show up as the brand name above the title, in titles and bullets, and on the product and packaging.
Patent
A patent protects an invention. In the United States there are two principal types. Utility patents cover how a product works, such as a new machine, article of manufacture or composition of matter. Design patents cover the unique look of a product, not its function, and US design patent numbers begin with the letter D. A private label product can draw a patent complaint even when it carries no one else’s brand.
Amazon’s rights owner guidance also covers parallel imports in the EEA, Brazil and Türkiye and the right of publicity, which is a person’s right to control commercial use of their name, image or likeness. Those claims are less common, but they follow the same notice and appeal system.
Who Files IP Complaints and How Amazon Processes Them
To report infringement, a rights owner must be a Brand Registry user with the Rights Owner role or the Registered Agent role. Registered Agents file on behalf of a rights owner who authorized them. Rights owners whose brands are not enrolled in Brand Registry can still submit a notice through a form Amazon makes available to all selling partners. In both cases the person filing must be logged into an Amazon account.
What the rights owner must provide
Amazon asks rights owners to identify the specific IP, such as a registration number or a description or link to the copyrighted work, the nature of the infringement, the ASINs and URLs involved, the sellers involved and any supporting documents such as test buy order IDs. Amazon processes one type of IP violation per notice. If a rights owner selects trademark and discusses copyright in the same notice, Amazon processes it as a trademark complaint only.
ASIN-level, offer-level and content-level reports
The scope of the report decides what you lose. A trademark owner can report an entire ASIN when a product or its packaging bears their trademark but they do not make that product. They can report a specific seller’s offer, in which case the detail page and ASIN are expected to stay live. They can also report use of their trademark on a detail page where the product sold is not theirs. Copyright claims work the same way, at ASIN level, offer level or against a specific image or text.
What happens after a notice is accepted
Amazon says that when a notice is valid, it informs the responsible sellers about the claim and shares the rights owner’s secondary contact information, or the primary contact if no secondary is available. It then removes the reported content and takes appropriate action against the responsible parties. If the notice is rejected, Amazon does not remove the content or act against the seller. The rights owner’s contact details in your warning are the starting point for any retraction request.
Notices Amazon Does Not Act On
Amazon’s rights owner page lists claims it does not enforce. Knowing them tells you when a complaint may have been accepted in error and is worth disputing.
- Compatibility statements. Amazon does not enforce notices seeking to remove true statements that a product is compatible with a trademarked product, as long as the detail page states it clearly and truthfully.
- Wrong country. A registered trademark or patent must be registered in the country where the takedown is requested. Amazon gives the example that an Italian trademark will likely not support removal of an ASIN from Amazon.com in the US.
- MAP agreements. Violations of minimum advertised price agreements are not IP infringement, and Amazon does not assist in enforcing them.
- Exclusive distribution. Amazon does not enforce exclusive distribution rights, except in countries with laws that refer to selective or exclusive distribution. The page names China, France and the United Arab Emirates.
- Parallel import and warranty claims outside the EU, Brazil and Türkiye. Amazon accepts parallel import claims only as they conform to each store’s laws, and evaluates warranty claims only alongside a valid parallel import claim.
- Barcode ownership. Amazon does not enforce ownership of barcodes, UPCs or EANs.
Amazon also warns rights owners that multiple submissions of inaccurate or inauthentic notices can lead to removal of their submission privileges. On its UK site, Amazon states it does not tolerate extortionate use of its IP tools and that a seller who receives a notice that appears extortionate should report it through the appeals process with evidence, such as payment demands or messages offering withdrawal in exchange for money.
How to Respond to Each Type of IP Complaint
Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy sets out the action for each situation. Match your notice to one row before you write anything.
| Your situation | What Amazon says to do |
|---|---|
| You never listed the reported product | Reply to the notification and say so. Amazon will investigate whether an error occurred. |
| You have a license or agreement with the rights owner | Contact the rights owner and request a retraction. Your content may be reinstated once Amazon receives it. |
| Trademark or counterfeit claim about the product or packaging | Use the Account Health dashboard to provide an invoice or order ID that shows the product is authentic. |
| Trademark claim about the detail page | Edit the detail page so it no longer infringes and appeal from Account Health, or appeal with documents such as a letter of authorization if the removal was an error. |
| Patent claim | Reply with specific reasons you believe a mistake was made. You may provide a court order showing the product does not infringe or the patent is invalid or unenforceable. |
| Copyright claim | File a counter-notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, sent to the email in your copyright warning. |
Trademark and counterfeit claims about the product
This is the claim where documents decide the result. Amazon asks for an invoice or order ID that demonstrates authenticity. Amazon’s separate invoice requirements page sets the standard. Invoices must come from your supplier, include the supplier’s name, phone, address and website, show an issue date within the past 365 days before the notification, cover your sales and in-stock inventory for each cited ASIN, and carry product identifiers that match the listing. Pricing may be removed. Pro forma invoices, quotes, self-issued invoices, editable files such as .xlsx or .docx, and invoices sent by email are not accepted.
Trademark claims about the detail page
When the complaint targets the page rather than the product, the fix is usually in the content. Remove the trademark from wherever it suggests a connection that does not exist, then appeal from Account Health. If you are authorized to use the mark, appeal instead with the authorization letter or license agreement. Amazon’s product detail page rules also prohibit brand-specific information on a generic listing, require a new ASIN when selling under a different brand and say never to modify the trademark information on an existing ASIN.
Patent claims
Patent disputes turn on claims and drawings that Amazon does not adjudicate on its own. Amazon asks for specific reasons a mistake was made and accepts a court order finding non-infringement or invalidity. A product that looks different from a design patent’s drawings, or a claim that names the wrong product entirely, can be explained in writing. Anything that needs a legal analysis of patent scope belongs with a patent attorney, and Amazon’s own policy says to consult a lawyer about specific IP questions.
Copyright claims and the DMCA counter-notice
Amazon’s US policy lists what a counter-notice must include. Your physical or electronic signature, which you can give by typing your name in the form “/s/ Seller Name.” Identification of the material removed and where it appeared, and an ASIN is generally sufficient. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed by mistake or misidentification. Your name, address and phone number, with consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for your seller address, or, if you are outside the United States, the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, and agreement to accept service of process from the person who filed the complaint.
The statute behind this process is 17 U.S.C. 512. Under section 512(g), a service provider that receives a valid counter-notice replaces the removed material not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days after receipt, unless the complaining party first notifies it that they have filed an action seeking a court order. Section 512(f) makes anyone who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material was removed by mistake liable for damages, costs and attorney’s fees. File a counter-notice only when the content is yours or you are licensed to use it. A counter-notice over copied photos invites a lawsuit.
Removing a Complaint From Account Health
Amazon’s Account Health Rating page lists the ways a violation leaves the dashboard. Each one maps to a different response.
- Successful dispute. You show the violation was an error and Amazon confirms it.
- Successful appeal. Amazon determines you did violate the policy but not intentionally and forgives the violation.
- Acknowledgment. You acknowledge a violation and confirm you do not want to reactivate the listing, where that option applies.
- Retraction. The rights owner retracts the complaint.
- Corrective action. You remove the infringing content or take the other required action.
- Time. Violations can be removed 180 days after they were added.
Amazon also notes that closing or deleting a listing does not remove its violation from the Account Health page. Deleting an ASIN to make a complaint disappear does not work. If an account is deactivated for its rating, violations stay in place and do not age off after 180 days until you address them.
Retraction requests
A retraction is the cleanest outcome because the complaint goes away at the source. Amazon’s rights owner page says a rights owner may submit a retraction if circumstances change after filing. Contact the rights owner at the address in your warning. Keep the message short and factual. Identify the ASIN and complaint, state what you sell and where you bought it, attach proof, and describe any listing change you have already made. Do not threaten, and do not offer payment for a retraction.
Multiple IP Complaints and Suspension
An accepted rights owner notice of infringement is rated High severity in the Account Health Rating. High severity violations carry minimal tolerance. Repeat violations of the same policy carry higher point values each time, and reaching five repeat violations of an infringement-related policy within 180 days can put the account at immediate risk of deactivation. At that point a critical violation appears, the rating drops to zero, and Amazon gives a three-day period to address it before deactivation.
If you have received multiple warnings and believe your products do not infringe, Amazon asks you to appeal through Seller Central with a list of the affected ASINs and at least one of the following.
- Invoices proving the authenticity of your products, with pricing removed if you choose.
- Amazon order IDs demonstrating product authenticity.
- An authorization letter from the rights owner, which cannot be a forwarded email.
- A court order finding your product does not infringe or that the IP is invalid or unenforceable.
If your account has been suspended because of IP notices, Amazon says to send your appeal through your account dashboard or reply to the suspension notification. Amazon will evaluate whether the account may be reinstated. The policy notes that Amazon terminates the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.
First-time versus repeat complaints
A first complaint on a clean account is usually resolved at the listing level. You prove authenticity, fix the content or secure a retraction, and the violation clears. A pattern of complaints is a different case. Amazon reads it as a process failure, and the appeal has to show the process. That means a list of every affected ASIN, the evidence for each, the root cause, such as copied images across a catalog or a sourcing channel that brands do not authorize, and the dated changes you made. Amazon’s guidance on appeals asks you to be factual, direct and free of emotive language, and to name specific actions and dates.
Why Genuine Sellers Still Get IP Complaints
Using someone else’s content
Copying a brand’s photos or descriptions can be copyright infringement even when the product itself is genuine. Amazon’s IP policy tells sellers to use original content. A seller who copies the brand’s photography onto a new listing is exposed to a copyright claim no invoice can answer.
Brand names in the wrong place
Using another company’s trademark in your title, keywords or brand field in a way that suggests a connection can trigger a trademark complaint. A truthful compatibility statement is protected under Amazon’s rights owner rules. A brand name used to borrow search traffic is not.
No proof of where the stock came from
If you cannot show a supply chain back to a legitimate source, a counterfeit claim is hard to answer. Amazon’s IP policy says that even if a seller infringes without knowledge, it will still take action, and the account may receive a warning or be suspended.
Mistakes That Make an IP Case Worse
- Using the wrong response path. Sending invoices against a copyright claim over photos, or filing a counter-notice against a trademark claim, does not address the claim Amazon accepted.
- Deleting the listing. Closing or deleting the listing does not remove the violation from Account Health.
- Relisting the same content. Putting the reported images or wording back on a new ASIN restarts the problem and counts toward repeat thresholds.
- Edited invoices. Amazon’s Anti-Counterfeiting Policy treats documents edited beyond removed pricing, or misleading documents, as a violation that leads to enforcement.
- Forwarded emails as authorization. Amazon does not accept a forwarded email as an authorization letter.
- A false counter-notice. Section 512(f) creates liability for knowing misrepresentation.
- Pressure on the rights owner. Threats or payment offers in a retraction request create a record you do not want in an appeal.
What to gather before responding to any IP complaint
Save the full notice, including the complaint ID, the rights owner’s name and contact, the IP type and any registration number. Pull the current and historical versions of the listing so you know exactly what content was live. Collect supplier invoices for the ASIN and any authorization letter or license. Note whether the report was ASIN-level, offer-level or against specific content. With those four items you can pick the right response path in minutes.
Regional Differences in the US, UK and EU
The DMCA counter-notice is a US process. Amazon’s UK Intellectual Property Policy does not offer it. In the UK store, if you believe the rights owner or Amazon made an error, Amazon says to reply to the notification with specific reasons and to provide any invoice or order ID that demonstrates authenticity.
Trademark rights are territorial. Amazon’s UK policy explains that national trademarks do not protect the owner at EU level, while EU trademarks cover all member states. This is why a US registration alone does not support a takedown in an EU store, and why a rights owner’s EU registration can reach listings in EU stores that are untouchable in the US.
Parallel imports are the biggest regional difference. Rights owners may prohibit you from importing or selling their goods in the EEA if you sourced them outside the EEA, and UK law is similar. Amazon’s UK policy asks sellers who receive a parallel import notice to contact the rights owner and obtain a retraction first. If the rights owner is unresponsive, you may appeal with evidence that the specific products were placed on the market in the relevant territory with the rights owner’s permission, such as invoices from an authorized distributor. Amazon’s UK policy also covers smell-alike perfumes, industrial designs, utility models and geographical indications, which are rare in the US store.
How to Prevent IP Complaints
- Use your own content. Shoot your own photos and write your own copy, or get written permission from the owner.
- Use brand names only to describe genuine products. Keep competitor marks out of titles, keywords and brand fields unless you are stating true compatibility.
- Buy from documented sources. Keep invoices that meet Amazon’s invoice requirements for every ASIN.
- Check patents before launch. Search for utility and design patents on a private label product before you commit to inventory.
- Respect store territory. Before selling a branded product in an EU or UK store, confirm the goods were placed on that market with the brand’s consent.
- Protect your own brand. A brand owner with a registered trademark may be eligible for Brand Registry, which gives text and image search tools and more authority over listings carrying the brand name.
Our rights owner complaint service handles IP complaint responses and retraction requests. If complaints have led to a suspension, our Amazon suspension and reinstatement team builds the appeal, and removed listings can go through our listing recovery service.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens when you get an IP complaint on Amazon?
If Amazon accepts the notice, it removes the reported content, informs you of the claim with the rights owner’s contact details and records a violation on your Account Health page. Depending on the notice, you can provide authenticity documents, edit the listing, request a retraction or file a counter-notice.
Can an IP complaint be removed?
Yes. A rights owner can retract it, Amazon can reverse it after a successful dispute or appeal, it can clear when you remove the infringing content, and violations can be removed 180 days after they were added. Deleting the listing does not remove it.
Can I get an IP complaint if my product is genuine?
Yes. Copyright claims over photos and text, or trademark claims over how a brand name is used, can apply to genuine products. For counterfeit claims, Amazon accepts invoices and order IDs as proof of authenticity.
Does Amazon act on IP complaints if I did not know I was infringing?
Yes. Amazon states that even if a seller infringes without knowledge, it will still take action, and the account may receive a warning or be suspended.
Will an IP complaint affect my Account Health Rating?
Yes. The Intellectual Property Policy is included in the Account Health Rating, and a valid rights owner notice is rated High severity. Five repeat infringement violations within 180 days can put the account at immediate risk of deactivation.
Respond to Your IP Complaint the Right Way
Each type of complaint has its own fix, and using the wrong one wastes time. Submit your case for a free assessment, or book a consultation.
Related guides include How to Get an Amazon IP Complaint Retracted by the Rights Owner and Competitor Sabotage on Amazon.
See also Amazon A-to-z Guarantee Claims.
Get Help With Your Amazon Case
Our rights owner complaint team can take the case from here. You can also see all our marketplace suspension services.
Sources
- Amazon Seller Central, Intellectual Property Policy
- Amazon Seller Central UK, Amazon Intellectual Property Policy
- Amazon Seller Central, Intellectual property for Rights Owners and Registered Agents
- Amazon Seller Central, Account health rating
- Amazon Seller Central, Policies included in Account Health Rating
- Amazon Seller Central, Invoice requirements for appealing a policy violation
- Amazon Seller Central, Amazon Anti-Counterfeiting policy
- Amazon Seller Central, Complete an appeal questionnaire to reinstate selling privileges
- Amazon Seller Central, Product detail page rules
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 17 U.S. Code 512, Limitations on liability relating to material online
