Copycat on Amazon is Stealing My Product, Images, Branding & More..
I’m the inventor of BeltBro.com, a no-buckle belt that uses just 2 belt loops to hold up pants and shorts. I developed this belt because I have stomach sensitivity that prevents me from wearing a regular belt due to the pressure on my stomach.
I’ve spent the last 2 years developing the branding and marketing for BeltBro and launched my website in February, during one of the hardest times to start a small business.
We’ve had tremendous success, and sold our no-buckle belts to over 50,000+ customers through our website. Many of our customers are wheelchair users, auto mechanics, fisherman, people who sit at a desk all day, people with IBS/Crohn’s, autistic kids, people with only one arm, and those who’ve recently recovered from stomach surgery.
Several months ago, we decided to start selling on Amazon FBA. Overall, it was going very well and our no-buckle belts were selling fast. But then, I noticed a Chinese company who cloned our ENTIRE Amazon listing. I’m talking product packaging, branding, images and more.
The left side is the counterfeit. The right side is our images. They literally stole… everything.
What you’ll notice is they stole not only our product, our packaging and our design, but they also had took our images and Amazon sales copy word for word.
Yes, they stole everything.
They even forgot to photoshop out our white “B” logo from their images:
So at this point it was pretty obvious what’s going on. There’s a Chinese copycat trying to confuse and rip off my customers.
Well, luckily I’m part of Amazon’s special “Brand Registry” program where companies with trademarks and patents can apply and get approved for increased brand protection.. Surely, I could simply file a complaint and get this bad guy removed?
Unfortunately not.
On November 5th, I filed my first Case Log with Amazon detailing all the above evidence. I provided the pictures, my trademark information, and all the details which I was certain would prove my case.
After 2 weeks, I finally heard back. Amazon said they reviewed all my evidence and found it incomplete. They said to identify the “specific content on Amazon believed to be infringing” — HUH? Did you not see all the pictures, details and information I attached to my initial Case Log along with their ASIN number?
Well, I re-summited all the information again.
No reply yet from Amazon — just a lot of waiting.
This scam company has been confusing my customers since they started selling on Amazon on October 15th.
Not only that, they are buying a bunch of fake 5-star reviews to boost their listing and confuse my customers into buying their product, as well as lowering their price well below my listing price.
It’s really unfortunate that Amazon is not yet helping us resolve this serious issue. This knock-off is confusing my customers by cloning my product, ripping off my images, stealing my copy, duplicating my packaging, and copying my trademark.
If you want to support our cause, please try our no buckle belt at: https://www.BeltBro.com
- * 12/4/20 UPDATE **
Thanks for all the replies! I submitted a new case log to Amazon with some of the feedback I received from this post, and they took down the copycat within 2 days! If you want info on the exact wording I sent to Amazon to file the successful case log, feel free to email me.
