I, unknowingly, purchased, and tried to sell fake products on ebay, now motorola has a prob w/ me. What to do?

Question

Again, I did not know the items were fake, and when I listed them, ebay removed them, saying it was "trademarkviolation. motorola wants the products, but I sent them back to escrow comp. What do I do about this threatening letter from motorola?

also, none were sold to anybody

Answer 1

Short answer is that, yes, you are responsible even if you didn't know.

However, companies very rarely prosecute individuals that make this mistake once or even twice. It's the folks that sell hundreds of fake Motorola items that they care about.

However, you will need to respect the canceled auction. You will need to turn over the counterfeit items to Motorola and no, they don't have to compensate you for your loss.

If you no longer have the items, you need to let Motorola know this. Provide details (and any proof that you have) that you did this. If you did this AFTER you received the letter, you'll be in trouble and should talk to a lawyer. If you did it before being notified, they'll need to know that you don't have the item any more. And, of course, they'll want to know who DOES have it.

If you can just give it to them, please do. Whatever it cost you will be less than what a lawyer will cost. And Motorola will then let you move on with your life.

Answer 2

The big issue you are going to have to prove is that you sold the fake products as motorola unknowingly. If Motorola is threatening legal action I would consult an attorney. If it's just a "nasty gram", I would call or write the person who wrote the letter and explain what happened and offer to make the situation right. Fax them a copy of the reciept of who you sent the products back to.

But I think I would consult a lawyer in any case, just to cover yourself

Answer 3

Unfortunately, you are responsible to verify the authenticity of any item you sell. If you did not place a disclaimer on the add stating that these may or may not be genuine articles, then Motorola may have a case. I'm surprised they are going after someone who only sold a couple of items on ebay but... thats big corp for you!

I would cooperate as much as possible but I think it would behoove you to retain a lawyer, just in case it gets messy.

Answer 4

Keep any records you have of what has happened... receipts, documents, letters, anything. Sent a message to the company who bought the products, explaining your position and offer them a full refund (I don't know how costly that will be, but think of court). Make a copy of that communication. Contact Motorola and eBay, make sure you keep all their communicatons on file. Insist on refunding the company. This seems partly the fault of eBay if it is not providing the correct security for its customers!

Answer 5

Well, for one, they are two products I will almost certainly never spend a dime on (fake or otherwise)... Viagra for the spam you spoke of, and Rolex because I have a million better things to spend my money on. Spammers are a scourge on modern society, in the same vein as boom-cars, telemarketers, spyware and Nancy Grace -- annoyances we just have to deal with. They are a bunch of weasels (actually I much prefer weasels) whose shameless pursuit of easy money with no regard for the cost to others shows they have no integrity. It causes the rest of us a lot of time, great annoyance, significant money, and possibly harm to our computers, not to mention that it spreads distrust and misinformation, each of which the world has plenty of, thank you. If there is a hell--and unfortunately I don't believe there is--I hope its ex-spammer residents have the job of checking Hell's e-mail every few minutes throughout eternity... and that they get nothing *but* spam. If I ever want to take sildenafil or whatever erectile dysfunction drug is around in the future, it will very likely be a Viagra competitor... one who doesn't send daily reminders of its annoying business practices. I wouldn't even buy generic sildenafil in case Pfizer (Viagra's maker) gets some kind of kickback. I would go with a different drug and manufacturer entirely. Cialis (Tadalafil) is different, *and* its spam e-mails are far less frequent in my inbox. Rolex too, though I do see them regularly. (And I don't necessarily blame the real Swiss manufacturer.) And let's not forget the get-out-of-debt schemes and people who "loved" my photo (which is posted nowhere on the Web). I don't think there's a spammy-products warehouse, though Pfizer may come the closest! I took the trouble to contact them (courteously but with great clarity) a few months ago about their spam, because I'd read that manufacturers are often behind spam campaigns -- though they may play innocent -- and that we should boycott spammy products or at least complain about them to the makers. I informed Pfizer that unless they could give a more reasonable explanation for the Viagra onslaught, they've permanently lost a potential future customer in me. Guess what?.... my Viagra spam increased noticeably after that. I got no other response from them. Both of these facts tell me I was probably right to suspect them of paying spammers to do some of their marketing. If the heads of Pfizer aren't as shady as I tend to believe, they could sure do a better public relations job... starting with a polite answer (or any answer) to my e-mail.

Answer 6

You're going to need to see a lawyer before this gets way out of hand. Probably someone on trademark infringement.

Answer 7

I would suggest contacting a lawyer