Intellectual Property- Trading Post Help

Help: Intellectual Property

What is Intellectual Property Protection?

Intellectual Property Protection is a facility provided by Trading Post® to assist owners of intellectual property (and their authorized representatives) to protect their intellectual property rights.

Responsibility for the item for sale and details of any ad appearing on the Trading Post® website rests solely with the seller. The seller must ensure the item for sale and the related ad details (headline, text description, and photographs) do not infringe the copyright, trademark, or any other intellectual property rights of a third party.

Any alleged infringements of the intellectual property rights of a third party will result in the removal of the ad from the Trading Post® website.

The content on the Trading Post® website does not constitute an endorsement by the Trading Post® of any advertisement or seller. The Trading Post® takes no responsibility for sellers who infringe the intellectual property rights of a third party.

What is an infringement of intellectual property?

Infringements of a third party’s intellectual property rights may include, but are not limited, to the following:

Using a third party’s trademark in your listing.
Copying and displaying a third party’s product description in your listing.
Copying and displaying a third party’s photo, either from another website or another ad on the Trading Post® website, in your listing.
Listing and selling an imitation or copy of a brand name’s product.

Reporting infringements of intellectual property

1. Owners of intellectual property (or their representatives)

If you are the owner of intellectual property (or an authorised representative of an owner), and you believe that your material has been used in a way that infringes your intellectual property rights, you will need to complete the following Statutory Declaration form:

Intellectual Property Statutory Declaration (PDF – 77KB)

Once completed, please send the Statutory Declaration to the Trading Post® at the following address:

The Trading Post
Trust & Safety Team
Level 10, 150 Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Only the original copy of the Statutory Declaration will be accepted by the Trading Post®. Photocopies will not be accepted, nor actioned, by the Trading Post®.

For any subsequent alleged infringements, you must complete the Notice of IP Infringement Form.

Notice of IP Infringement Form (DOC – 54KB)

Once you have completed and signed this form, please send it to Trading Post® via the Trading Post Online Support form.

The information in your Statutory Declaration or Notice of IP Infringement will be used to investigate your claim and to contact you about it. In particular, your personal information will be included in the notice sent to the relevant seller for them to contact you directly should they dispute your complaint.

Please note that if the information given in your Statutory Declaration or Notice of IP Infringement is found to be false or misleading then you may be liable for damages, fines, costs and legal fees.

2. Non-Owners of Intellectual Property Rights

If you are not an owner or authorized representative of Intellectual Property, but you believe that an ad on the Trading Post® website has infringed the rights of a third party, you may contact the intellectual property rights owner directly, and alert them to the alleged infringement.

3. Trading Post

In an event that the Trading Post Online, in its regular monitoring of web-site content, identifies an ad it believes may infringe intellectual property, the Trading Post® may disclose the personal information of the alleged infringing seller to the intellectual property rights owner.

Removal of infringing advertisements

Any alleged infringements, supported by a Statutory Declaration, of a third party’s intellectual property rights ,may result in the immediate removal of the infringing ad from the Trading Post® website. Trading Post® will subsequently notify the relevant seller of the removal of their ad.

Trading Post® is not liable for any loss caused by the withdrawal or removal from the Trading Post® website of any material with which you provide us. The seller must not re-advertise the alleged infringing item on the Trading Post® website, unless permitted to do so by the Trading Post® in writing.

Disputing infringement

If you believe that your material has been incorrectly removed from the Trading Post® website, you should raise your concerns with the person who made the Statutory Declaration (the “notifier”) directly. If the notifier agrees that the Statutory Declaration was made in error, ask them to email Trading Post® to this effect.
If you do not receive a response from the notifier within 10 business days, then you may send Trading Post® a valid written Counter-Notification that contains the following information:

The unique Item Number and listing description of the removed listing as it appeared on the Trading Post® website.
A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the courts in which your address is located, or, if your address is outside Australia, to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Victoria, Australia.
A statement that you will accept service of process from the notifier or the notifier’s agent.
A statement by you declaring that you are the owner of the described intellectual property, or that you are authorized to act on behalf of that owner.
A statement by you declaring that you believe, in good faith, that the relevant material was removed as the result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed.
Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.
Your signature (signed in the presence of a person who is authorized to witness the signing of a statutory declaration).

Counter Infringement Form (DOC – 56KB)

Once completed, please send the Counter-Notification to the Trading Post® at the following address:

The Trading Post
Trust & Safety Team
Level 10, 150 Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Only the original copy of the Counter-Notification will be accepted by the Trading Post®. Photocopies will not be accepted, nor actioned, by the Trading Post®.

Once we have received your Counter-Notification, we will forward it to notifier. Please note that this means that the notifier will see the personal information you have included in your Counter-Notification.

Once the notifier has received the Counter-Notification, they will have 10 business days within which to notify Trading Post® that they have filed an action seeking a court order to prevent further use of the allegedly infringing material. If Trading Post® receives such notification it will not reinstate the material. If Trading Post® does not receive such notification then it may reinstate the material in its discretion.
Please note that if the information given in your Statutory Declaration or Notice of IP Infringement is found to be false or misleading then you may be liable for damages, fines, costs and legal fees.