No matter the size of your business — whether you’re a mom-and-pop sized shop that’s content to stay that way or a booming business on the verge of worldwide stardom — it’s important to take care of the details so you’re never adversely affected by breaking any rules that you could have avoided. One of those areas of detail is not getting the facts straight about intellectual property rights, which is a pretty big deal on Amazon. If you’re primarily selling Etsy-type products where you or a friend has handmade each and every one, then the subject of intellectual property rights doesn’t matter too much for you. But if you’re dealing with goods manufactured by someone else, like a Seiko watch or Sony TV remote control, then intellectual property rights matter a whole lot more. With RepricerExpress by your side, here’s what you need to know to continue doing an amazing job on Amazon.
What’s Involved in Intellectual Property Rights
In a nutshell, intellectual property rights are the rights given to someone who’s created something, which means they get the final word on what’s done with their creation. We see this a lot in downloading songs and music, where artists and movie studios take action against people who have downloaded their creations for free, as that’s an infringement of their intellectual property rights. But by paying for it, you’re legally and explicitly acknowledging that someone else made it, not you, and you’re willingly bartering with them to be able to use it.
When we say that intellectual property rights has to do with something a person created, it’s usually when it’s something created with their mind (or else everyone will claim intellectual property rights on silly things like grilled cheese sandwiches). So on Amazon, this would apply to items sold in just about every department, from books and computers to DVDs and music. If you’re planning on selling intellectual property on Amazon, there are several guidelines you have to follow.
1. Learn the Basics of Intellectual Property Law for Each Country You Sell In
As a faithful reader of our blog, we know you know each Amazon marketplace operates slightly differently. What works in, say, Amazon.co.uk may not be kosher for Amazon.cn, and vice-versa. Intellectual property rights operate the same way, so it’s up to you, the Amazon seller, to learn what you can and shouldn’t do. Here’s a list of resources you can check out to make sure you’re on board in each country you sell in.
2. Ask Brands for Permission
There’s a saying in life, “it’s better to ask forgiveness than it is to ask for permission”, but when it comes to intellectual property rights, that maxim is definitely not the case. Depending on what you’re selling, you may or may not have to get permission from the brand owner to be able to list it on Amazon (see: above resources). What you want to ensure is you have all intellectual property rights, such as patents, trademarks and/or copyrights, before you go ahead and create listings, otherwise you’ll get a not-so-friendly letter telling you to stop selling a particular product.
3. Don’t Sell Counterfeit or Illegal Parallel Imports
The first, counterfeit goods, is pretty self-explanatory. It’s awfully tempting to get your hands on really cheap bootleg products, and then turn them around at a huge profit.
Don’t.
It’s just not worth getting caught out later on and having your business crumble under you. It’s also best to stay away from products where the trademark owner uses their intellectual property to prevent it being resold in the European Economic Area, even if you’re outside of the EEA and purchases their brand from outside the EEA. It’s a stick web that’s just better to avoid.
4. Protect Your Own Intellectual Property
In the beginning, we mentioned that if you’re selling Etsy-like products, then intellectual property rights don’t have a whole lot to do with you. That’s not quite true, because what’s to stop some unscrupulous Amazon seller from taking advantage of your hard work? It’s not an overly long or hugely complicated process, but it can be a good idea for you to protect your own intellectual property in Europe, just as a precaution.
Taking care of the big details of your business, such as with intellectual property rights, eats up a lot of your time. It’s tough work successfully growing a business and RepricerExpress knows it, which is why we’ll go to every length to make your life easier. The top way we know of doing that is to offer amazing repricing software that focuses on competitively pricing your inventory so you don’t have to. Get it today for a 15-day free trial.
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