Q: I bought some beauty products at a stall in a mall. I.m reselling it online the company of the product send me a notice
they will sue me for bad infringement of their intellectual property. I have nothing with them. Can they really sue me for reselling something i bought, that i want to sell further? on ebay or amazon
A: If you purchased a proprietary product in the U.S. from the proprietary right owner's authorized dealer and resold it, your sale might be protected under the first sale doctrine, which means the right owner has exhausted his right after he sold the product. However, if the mall stall is not an authorized vendor, you will probably have an infringement issue. Furthermore, if the stall's product is from markets outside the U.S., you may have a situation of selling gray market product, which sometimes is illegal. Therefore, you should contact an IP attorney to have a full evaluation of your situation. If your sale activities are legitimate, your attorney may draft a letter to respond to the company. If they are not legitimate, your attorney should have the strategies to minimize your damages. Many attorneys, like me, offer a free initial consultation. You may contact one of them.
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