Intellectual Property Rights
Last updated: Mar 25, 2023
Overview
Foxcd is an e-commerce platform where businesses and manufacturers (“merchants”) can sell their goods directly to consumers. As a passive platform, Foxcd is not actively involved in the listing, sale or delivery of items offered by its merchants.
As part of its core mission and the services it provides to its users, Foxcd has a strict policy against the listing or sale of products that violates a third-party’s copyright, trademark, or other rights. In connection with this policy, Foxcd is committed to providing ways for third parties to notify Foxcd of instances of alleged violations of their intellectual property rights. Foxcd also reserves its rights to block access or remove materials that it believes in good faith to be in violation of third-party rights, and further to remove or discontinue service to merchants who repeatedly violate those rights.
Below is some information regarding intellectual property, how authorized parties may submit notices to Foxcd with allegations of intellectual property violations, and information on how Foxcd merchants can respond when their listings or accounts are affected by such allegations. Please note that any report made to Foxcd must be made with a good faith belief, sworn under penalty of perjury, that the material identified violates valid and subsisting intellectual property rights.
Foxcd also provides below information on how entities with registered intellectual property rights might take advantage of the additional benefits provided by Foxcd’s Brand Partner Program. For more information on Foxcd’s Intellectual Property and Brand Protection programs, please visit here.
Intellectual Property Policies
1.1 Copyright Policy
A copyright protects original works of authorship that are “fixed” in some permanent or semi-permanent medium. It can cover everything from literary works to artistic works, music to movies, architectural designs to computer software. The duration of copyrights depends on several factors, including when the original work was created, where, and by whom. The owner of a copyright can prevent third parties from copying, displaying, distributing, creating derivative works from, and publicly performing the protected works without authorization from the copyright owner.
Using a third party’s copyrights without proper authorization is a direct violation of Foxcd’s Merchant Policies, Merchant Terms of Service, and various other Foxcd policies. Accordingly, if Foxcd were to learn of such unauthorized use, Foxcd reserves its right to remove such listing in its own discretion and without notice to the merchant.
In addition to the above, if you are a rights owner with valid copyright rights or are authorized by the copyright owner to act on its behalf, you may report the allegedly infringing listings, as outlined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form or as set out below in “Details on the DMCA Notice Process.” In accordance with the DMCA, Foxcd reserves the right to (1) block access to or remove material that Foxcd believes in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been used without permission, and (2) remove and discontinue service to repeat offenders.
If you believe your copyrights are being violated as outlined in the policies identified above, please provide the requested information via Foxcd’s Report Violations online form: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-protection/brand-violation-report
Details on the DMCA Notice Process
Please send a notice of claimed copyright infringement by filling out Foxcd’s Report Violations online form or by providing the following information to Foxcd’s Designated Agent at: Foxcd Designated DMCA Agent, One Sansome St, 33rd Fl, San Francisco, CA 94104, brand-protection@Foxcd.com.
Any such notice of claimed infringement must include the following information:
A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed;
Identification of works or materials being infringed;
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing including information regarding the location of the infringing materials that the copyright owner seeks to have removed, with sufficient detail so that Foxcd is capable of finding and verifying its existence;
Contact information about the notifier including address, telephone number and, if available, email address;
A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material identified in this form is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided is accurate and the notifying party is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner.
Upon receipt of a proper notice of copyright infringement, Foxcd reserves the right to:
Remove or disable access to the infringing material;
Notify the content provider who is accused of infringement that Foxcd has removed or disabled access to the applicable material; and
Terminate such content provider’s access to the Services if it is a repeat offender (see Repeat Infringer Policy) or as otherwise stated in Foxcd’s policies.
For more information on Foxcd’s Copyright Dispute Policy please visit here
Details on the DMCA Counter-Notice Process
If the content provider believes that the material that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or the content provider believes that it has the right to post and use such material from the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent, or, pursuant to the law, the content provider, may send us a counter-notice containing the following information to Foxcd’s Designated Agent at Foxcd Designated DMCA Agent, One Sansome St, 33rd Fl, San Francisco, CA 94104, brand-protection@Foxcd.com.
Any such counter-notice to a claim of infringement must include the following information:
A physical or electronic signature of the content provider;
Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled;
A statement under penalty of perjury that the content provider has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material; and
Content provider’s name, address, telephone number, and, if available, email address, and a statement that such person or entity consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court for the judicial district in which the content provider’s address is located, or, if the content provider’s address is located outside the United States, for any judicial district in which Foxcd is located, and that such person or entity will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.
If a counter-notice is received by the Foxcd’s Designated Agent, Foxcd will send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that Foxcd may replace the removed material or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider accused of committing infringement, the removed material will be replaced or access to it restored in as early as 10 but not more than 14 business days of Foxcd’s receipt of the counter-notice.
Click here to download Foxcd’s DMCA counter-notice form.
For more information on Foxcd’s Copyright Dispute Policy, please visit here
1.2 Trademark Policy
A trademark is any word, symbol, phrase, design, or other indicia that serves to identify and distinguish the source of the goods or service of one party from those of another party. Some examples of trademarks are brand names, logos, and slogans. Trademarks generally are meant to protect consumers from being confused as to the source of a good or service, though they can sometimes also protect the value of companies’ own brands in the marketplace. Trademarks may be registered with each jurisdiction’s regional trademark office.
Using a third party’s trademarks without proper authorization is a direct violation of Foxcd’s Merchant Policies, Merchant Terms of Service, and various other Foxcd policies. Accordingly, if Foxcd were to learn of such unauthorized use, Foxcd reserves its right to remove such listing in its own discretion and without notice to the merchant.
Similarly, if you are a rights holder with a registered trademark, or are authorized by the trademark owner to act on its behalf, you may report the allegedly infringing listings via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form. Upon receipt of your report, Foxcd’s Brand Protection Team will promptly investigate the listing and remove it when appropriate.
If you believe your trademark rights are being violated as outlined in the policies identified above, please provide the requested information via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-protection/brand-violation-report
1.3 Counterfeit Policy
Counterfeit products generally are fake or unauthorized copies of real products, which often are of lesser quality than authentic goods. They often contain identical or near-identical copies of a company’s brand, logo, or other identifying features, and therefore can often violate a rights-holder’s various intellectual property rights.
Listing for sale counterfeit products is a direct violation of Foxcd’s Merchant Policies, Merchant Terms of Service, and various other Foxcd policies. Accordingly, if Foxcd were to learn of such unauthorized use, Foxcd reserves its right to remove such listing in its own discretion and without notice to the merchant.
Similarly, if you are a rights holder that detects potential counterfeit items, or are authorized by the rights owner to act on its behalf, you may report the allegedly counterfeit listings via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form. Upon receipt of your report, Foxcd’s Brand Protection Team will promptly investigate the listing and remove it when appropriate.
If you believe your rights are being violated as outlined in the policies identified above, please provide the requested information via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-protection/brand-violation-report
1.4 Patent and Community Design Policy
A patent is a form of intellectual property right that protects an invention against unauthorized reproduction, use, copying, or sale. Patents may cover manufactured items, machines, designs, and various other items or processes. Patents may be registered with each jurisdiction’s regional patent office.
A community design is a form of intellectual property specific to the European Union. The European Union’s regulation defines a “design” as “[t]he appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.”
Offering a product for sale that is found to infringe upon a third party’s patents or community design is a direct violation of Foxcd’s Merchant Policies, Merchant Terms of Service, and various other Foxcd policies. Accordingly, if Foxcd were to learn of such unauthorized use, Foxcd reserves its right to remove such listing in its own discretion and without notice to the merchant.
Similarly, if you are a rights holder that detects potential violations of your patent or community design rights, or are authorized by the rights owner to act on its behalf, you may report the allegedly infringing listings via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form. Upon receipt of your report, Foxcd’s Brand Protection Team will promptly investigate the listing and remove it when appropriate.
If you believe your patent rights are being violated as outlined in the policies identified above, please provide the requested information via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-protection/brand-violation-report
1.5 Right of Publicity Policy
The right of publicity is the right of a person to control how his or her name, image, likeness, or other identifiable feature (each a “publicity right”) is used in a commercial setting. In some locations these rights expire upon the death of the individual, but in others these may continue for some time post mortem. The laws regarding these rights are specific to the locations in which the person lived, died and/or had some other connection.
Using a third party’s publicity rights without proper authorization is a direct violation of Foxcd’s Merchant Policies, Merchant Terms of Service, and various other Foxcd policies. Accordingly, if Foxcd were to learn of such unauthorized use, Foxcd reserves its right to remove such listing in its own discretion and without notice to the merchant.
Similarly, if you are a rights holder that detects potential violations of your publicity rights, or are authorized by the rights owner to act on its behalf, you may report the allegedly violative listings via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form. Upon receipt of your report, Foxcd’s Brand Protection Team will promptly investigate the listing and remove it when appropriate.
If you believe your publicity rights are being violated as outlined in the policies identified above, please provide the requested information via Foxcd’s Report IP Violations online form: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-protection/brand-violation-report
Repeat Infringer Policy
Foxcd takes measures to identify and take action against merchants who are alleged to repeatedly infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. Repeat infringers are subject to the following actions by Foxcd, among others:
Certain accesses and account privileges may be revoked or limited
Monetary fines may be issued
Access to content generated by the repeat infringer may be removed temporarily or permanently from the Services
Merchant accounts may be temporarily or permanently suspended
Brand Partner Program
3.1 Overview
At Foxcd, we consider protecting the intellectual property rights of brand owner’s to be of the utmost importance. We therefore created our Brand Partner Program to allow brand owners to accelerate the takedown-request process, view and report infringing items, review historical takedown requests, and provide them with confidence that their takedown requests are reviewed in a timely fashion. You can learn more about Foxcd’s Brand Partner program by clicking here. You can also create your own account here: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-partner/signup
3.2 Incentives
As part of the sign-up process, Foxcd requires “Proof of Intellectual Property Rights” or “Proof of Authorization.”
The Proof of Intellectual Property Rights requirement can be fulfilled by uploading a government-issued document that establishes your legal right to assert an intellectual property right, such as a trademark document issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or a copyright registration issued by the United States Copyright Office.
The Proof of Authorization requirement can be fulfilled by uploading a letter of authorization from a brand owner, on official company letterhead and signed by someone from the brand with the ability to grant you authorization, to use the brand owner’s intellectual property rights.
3.3 Proof of Intellectual Property Rights and Proof of Authorization
If you become a Brand Partner, you will be able to quickly identify listings that are in need of removal, track historical takedowns, and communicate efficiently with Foxcd’s Brand Partner support team. We value creating and building lasting and collaborative relationships with Brand Owners and look forward to working with you to help ensure the integrity of our site.
3.4 Become a Brand Partner
To become a Brand Partner, please fill out the online application by clicking here: https://merchant.Foxcd.com/brand-partner/signup. Once your application is submitted, our Brand Protection team will evaluate your documents and information in a timely manner. Upon approval of your application, you will gain access to the benefits of a Partnership with Foxcd.
Report Intellectual Property Violations
If you believe your rights are being violated as outlined in the policies identified above, please provide the requested information via Foxcd’s Report Violations online
