Letter from legal firm stating I have infringed on intellectual property

[tommyG0F1TR]

Hi,

Last week I received a legal letter that alleges that I have infringed on intellectual property.

Background:
I run a small eBay business where I sell cloths I buy from car boots sales. In October of last year I bought 37 Elvis t-shirts. The t-shirts have the word Elvis printed on the chest in a box that looks like the weird Levis box. In my listing I noted that the item was unbranded and made no reference to Levis. I ended up selling 27 of the t-shirts as the rest had holes in them. The listing was closed in April of this year when the stock was gone.

Letter:
Last week I received a legal letter from a legal firm calming that I have infringed on intellectual property and I have to do what they request or they will take this further. They claim that their client ordered an item from me and confirmed to them that it infringed on their intellectual property thus leading to this. Essentially the argument is first, from a long way away the design looks similar and can cause confusion thus hurting their brand and two, because they look similar people could assume it is some sort of legit cross promotion between the two thus hurting their brand.

The legal firm has asked me to sign and return a letter, complete a number of tasks and to pay them a sum that they will come up with once I have done what they have asked. The tasks are:

• removing the listing - done way before receiving the letter
• regarding this item send all stock I have to them at my cost - I have none, I sold what I could and the damaged ones I used for cleaning
• Give details on where I got the items
• Give details on buyers the bought 3 or more of this item – none
• Provide all receipt and invoices to them regarding this item
• Try to get back any items I can
• When selling any further items that have their intellectual property, I must send them a sample to ok before selling
• Write a letter stating that to the best of my ability and knowledge I have truthfully done what was asked of me
• Pay reasonable legal costs incurred and some damages, to be assessed if not agreed

I don’t think they have a case because when I looked into this before selling I was under the impression that the logo should not be identical and should not be done in a way that is different but deliberately designed to mislead. For example, removing the apostrophe from their original logo but now that I have gotten this letter I am not sure anymore.

I don’t want to comply with the request because by doing so I feel I am agreeing with them on all counts then they can change me what they like and because I have agreed beforehand I will not have a leg to stand on. Can anyone please advise on the best cause of action?

Thanks in advance,
Tom

[setdetnet]

Intellectual Property (IP) is a huge area of litigation. It scopes Trade Marks, Patents, Designs, and Copyright - each having numerous sections, subsections and clauses.

I would be cautious in regard to any claim arising from an eBay sale. The details you provide are sparse and difficult to help specifically; furthermore as this relates to an eBay trade, you are open to abuse from criminal activities seeking to leverage money from you by illegal or underhand means. Also the law is complex as it covers more than one territory. The immeidate stand-out concerns are:

* How has the letter been served? Email, paperwork? - Highly unlikely a formal demand would be an email. It would be sent to your home address by recorded post and identify you by name and address. - How have you received the demand?
* In what format? There are prescribed formats for this and certain information must be provided. What paperwork have you received from the solicitor and how does this compare? - Search internet - examples all over the place.
* Who is the claimaint? - Request from Solicitor.
* Does the claimant own the IP; where is the evidence? - Request from Solicitor.
* What specifically in IP law has been contravened; what are the specific allegations and reference law UK Acts of parliament passed that have been contravened? What is the evidence and what is the evidence? - Request from the solicitor.
* Who is the claimant's representative (solicitor)? Are they registered in the UK or overseas. If UK then are they registered with Companies House? - Investigate.
* Has a complaint been lodged to eBay, when, by who, what for, where is the evidence - contact eBay.
eBay policies define what can and cannot be traded on their platform. You need to determine whether the claimant has issued a complaint in relation to your listing, to eBay.

So so much you have not provided. But do nothing until you research.
NEVER write to them if you have their address - this only serves to confirm yours !
Carry out the above. When contacting the solicitor , telephone them and request names and contact numbers and their email addresses. Check these with company house and check their email. Find out is they are genuine. Use companies house UK. Check with their territory if not UK. Create a temporary email with gmail or something and give them that for correspondence. THEY must discover your address and serve formal legal documents to your address, not the other way round.

It may be genuine, but at the moment you have insufficient information by a long way.
And,
Stop selling knock off items and items that may be reasonably confused with legitimate IP.

This might end up to be unfounded - but it is a warning !!

[Scot22]

What comprehensive and detailed advice. If I have a query I hope you respond.
I had 2 years of someone threatening all sorts of things for IP . It was unfounded and nothing happened.
Also I trust the price represented the value of the reality.

[setdetnet]

Yes, it is just common sense at first, and then the legal excitement commences. I always believe that if you act honestly, in good faith, and within the law, then you have nothing to worry about. Pretty simple really.
Thanks for your comment.