Protecting Intellectual Property
In keeping with its status as the internet's largest venue for person-to-person trading, eBay does not and cannot verify that sellers have the right or ability to sell or distribute their listed items. However, we are committed to removing infringing or unlicensed items once an authorised representative of the rights owner properly reports them to us. eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program works to ensure that item listings do not infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of third parties. VeRO Program participants have the ability to identify and request removal of allegedly infringing items and materials.
Any person or company who holds intellectual property rights (such as a copyright, trademark or patent) which may be infringed upon by eBay postings or items listed on eBay is encouraged to become a VeRO Program member. Program members presently include hundreds of individuals, local, state and federal law enforcement, and intellectual property owners from a wide array of industries.
Program membership entitles you to the following benefits:
Dedicated eBay staff to assist you in getting the most out of the Program
Rapid response by eBay in ending auctions reported by you as allegedly infringing
Dedicated priority email queues for reporting alleged infringements
The ability to obtain identifying information about eBay users
eBay member rights and privileges as described in the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy
Automatic updates on new benefits available under the Program
How to Become a VeRO Program Member
To join the VeRO Program, we require only that you fully complete and fax to us a Notice of Infringement form specifying the allegedly infringing listings and the infringed work, complete with an original authorised signature. The information requested by the Notice of Infringement is designed to ensure that parties reporting items are authorised by the rights owners, and to enable eBay to easily identify the material or listing to be ended. Download the Notice of Infringement and explanatory materials only. You will need Adobe Reader to view and print these documents. In the interest of keeping the process easy and simple, after we receive your first Notice of Infringement in hard copy, future notices can be sent to us by email.
Automated Searches
eBay offers to all members a feature called Favourite Searches. You can use our Favourite Searches feature to conduct automatic searches for potentially infringing items. Favourite Searches enables you to create up to fifteen automatic searches using search terms you provide. You can designate three of these searches to be automatically emailed to you. Our system will automatically notify you on a daily basis of any new listings posted which contain any terms in your three selected searches. You can use sophisticated Boolean logic searches just like with our main search engine. The easiest way to set up this feature is to perform a search using eBay's main search engine here, and then clicking "save this search" at the bottom of the search results. You'll need to be a member of eBay to use Favourite Searches.
How to Report Listings if you are the Intellectual Property Owner
If you are a community member, and another member is using your text and/or images in their listings without your permission, you can now report their listings to eBay by following our descriptions and image guidelines.
How to Report Items if You are Not an Intellectual Property Owner
If you are not an intellectual property owner, you will not be able to join our VeRO Program. However, you can still help by getting in touch with the relevant rights owner and encouraging them to contact us. Also, if you want to report suspected infringing items to eBay, Contact Rules & Safety. We are happy to receive such information, but must advise that we may be limited in our ability to respond to your request absent formal notice from an authorised rights owner.
For More Information
If you are an IP rights owner and have questions about the VeRO Program or our infringing items policies, please contact us at Rules & Safety Support.
