How do you stop counterfeit sellers on online marketplaces?

Fake merchandise usually shows up the same way: cheap copies of your best sellers, your logo on goods you never made, and new seller names each time one is removed. Our page on internet law and marketplace brand programs describes how platform enforcement fits with takedowns and impersonation. This page sets out the escalation path, from a first report to customs recordation and federal court, with the statutes behind each step.

How marketplace enforcement works, step by step

1. Confirm the goods are counterfeit. Under 15 U.S.C. 1127, a counterfeit is "a spurious mark which is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a registered mark." Goods made by a manufacturer you authorized for that type of product are excluded from the counterfeit definition in 1116(d)(1)(B), so check your licensing records first. A test purchase gives you the item, the packaging and the seller's shipping details.
2. Document each listing. Save the listing URL, seller name, photos, price, and the seller identity block the marketplace displays. Keep a dated log, because the same seller often returns under a new account.
3. Report through the marketplace. Use its trademark complaint tool for the fake goods. If the listing also copies your product photos, a copyright notice is a separate track, explained on our page about DMCA takedown notice requirements.
4. Use the INFORM Act tools. Every high-volume seller's listing must show a way to report suspicious activity electronically and by phone (15 U.S.C. 45f(b)(3)). The marketplace must suspend high-volume sellers who fail to provide or disclose required information within 10 days of notice (45f(a)(1)(C) and (b)(4)).
5. Send a demand to an identified seller. Once you know who and where the seller is, a cease and desist letter can end small operations and creates a record of knowledge for later.
6. Record your registration with Customs. U.S. Customs and Border Protection can detain and seize imports bearing counterfeits of registered marks recorded with it (19 CFR part 133). The fee is $190 per class.
7. File suit when the pattern continues. A federal court can grant an injunction, and in counterfeiting cases an ex parte order to seize the goods, the means of making the marks, and business records (15 U.S.C. 1116(d)). The process for a metro Atlanta owner is on our page about copyright and trademark lawsuits in Atlanta federal court.

What does the INFORM Consumers Act require marketplaces to do?

The INFORM Consumers Act took effect June 27, 2023, according to the FTC's business guidance. Its stated goal, in the FTC's words, includes deterring criminals from "acquiring stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe items and selling them through those marketplaces." The Act does not decide trademark complaints, but it makes anonymous high-volume selling harder and gives you an identity to put in a demand letter.

Enforcement belongs to the FTC and to state attorneys general, who can sue in federal court (45f(c) and (d)). The FTC's guidance page links a dedicated form for reporting possible INFORM violations.

What can you recover from a counterfeit seller in court?

Counterfeiting claims run through 15 U.S.C. 1114(1), which covers use of a reproduction, counterfeit, copy or colorable imitation of a registered mark that is likely to cause confusion. The remedies are in 15 U.S.C. 1117, and you may choose statutory damages at any time before final judgment.

The photo row depends on registering in time, which our page on copyright infringement damages explains. Collecting an award is a separate step from winning it.

Why does the scope of your registration matter so much?

The counterfeit definition in 1116(d)(1)(B) requires a counterfeit of a mark registered on the Principal Register "for such goods or services sold, offered for sale, or distributed." A registration for entertainment services alone may not reach fake T-shirts. Our page on trademark classes for merchandise shows why clothing, mugs and posters each need coverage.

Customs follows the same logic. Only Principal Register registrations can be recorded, not Supplemental Register ones (19 CFR 133.1(a)), and the recordation stays in force with the registration (133.4(b)). Unregistered marks still have a claim under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a), but without the counterfeit statutory damages or seizure orders. For creators building a brand from an audience, our page on protecting a creator's brand covers getting the right filings in place.

What changes the answer

• Gray market goods. Genuine goods made for another country are not counterfeits. Customs offers separate "Lever-rule" protection when you can show physical and material differences (19 CFR 133.2(e)).
• Licensee overruns. Goods made by a manufacturer authorized at the time for that type of product fall outside the counterfeit definition (1116(d)(1)(B)). Tight licenses matter, as our page on quality control in trademark licenses explains.
• Seller size. Sellers below the high-volume threshold, and high-volume sellers under $20,000 a year, have no INFORM identity disclosure on their listings (45f(b)(1) and (f)(3)).
• Willfulness. The statutory maximum rises from $200,000 to $2,000,000 per mark per type of goods only if the court finds willful use (1117(c)(2)).
• Imports. For recorded marks, Customs may detain suspect goods for up to 30 days, may share images and samples with you, and after seizure discloses the manufacturer, exporter and importer, if available, within 30 business days (19 CFR 133.21).
• Sellers abroad. A U.S. registration is enforced in the United States. Marketplaces in other countries respond to rights there, covered on our page about filing trademarks in other countries.

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Calling genuine goods counterfeit. A wrongful seizure gives the target a claim for lost profits, loss of goodwill, attorney's fees and, if sought in bad faith, punitive damages (1116(d)(11)).
• Using the wrong complaint type. Copyright notices cover copied photos and text; trademark complaints cover fake goods. Mixing them up slows removal.
• Relying on a registration that misses the goods. Check that your certificate lists the products being faked before you claim counterfeiting.
• Publicizing a planned seizure. An ex parte seizure order requires that you have not publicized it (1116(d)(4)(B)(ii)), so keep plans off social media.
• Treating every listing as a separate fight. Repeat sellers call for an account-level log, an approach our page on platform repeat infringer policies describes for copyright.
• Forgetting the domain. Counterfeiters often add a look-alike website, which our page on recovering a domain registered in bad faith covers.

What to do this week

1. List every infringing listing with its URL, seller name, price and date in one spreadsheet.
2. Make one test purchase from the largest seller and keep the package unopened except to photograph it.
3. Pull your registration certificates and compare the listed goods with the products being faked.
4. File marketplace trademark complaints for registered goods, and copyright notices for copied photos.
5. Record your Principal Register registration with Customs through the e-Recordation application.
6. If the sellers also run fake accounts that pose as your store, read our page on online business impersonation.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Customs recordation cost, and how long does it last?

CBP charges $190 per class to record a trademark, and renewal is $80 per class (19 CFR 133.3 and 133.7). The recordation runs concurrently with the USPTO registration, so renew both together.

Can I see who a marketplace seller really is?

For high-volume sellers with $20,000 or more in annual gross revenue, the marketplace must show the seller's name, physical address and contact information. A seller working from home may show only its country and state and direct buyers to phone, email or messaging instead (45f(b)(2)).

Can I get attorney fees from a counterfeiter?

Yes in some cases. Section 1117(b) adds a reasonable attorney's fee to treble damages for knowing counterfeiting unless the court finds extenuating circumstances, and 1117(a) allows fees in exceptional cases.

Do I have to prove the seller knew the goods were fake?

Not for liability under 1114(1)(a). Knowledge matters for treble damages under 1117(b) and for the willful statutory range under 1117(c)(2).

What does an ex parte seizure order require?

You must notify the U.S. attorney, post security set by the court, and show among other things that the seller would hide or destroy the goods if given notice (1116(d)(2) to (4)). The seizure must happen within seven days, and a hearing follows 10 to 15 days after the order.

Is a federal registration really necessary?

For counterfeit remedies and Customs recordation, yes. Our page comparing state and federal trademark registration explains why a Georgia registration does not supply them.

Zala IP Law helps brands, artists and creators respond to counterfeit listings, infringing merchandise and other online infringement, and Shreepal J. Zala practices federal intellectual property law nationally. If fake goods are carrying your name, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701 to plan the escalation.