VooGlue is dedicated to providing customers with the widest selection of goods and creating an amazing customer experience. VooGlue does not allow listings that violate the intellectual property rights of brands or other rights owners.

This page provides information about intellectual property (IP) rights and common IP concerns that might arise when selling on VooGlue. This is not legal advice. You should consult a lawyer if you have a specific question about your IP rights or the IP rights of others.

Copyright

1. What is a copyright?

A copyright protects original works of authorship, such as videos, movies, songs, books, musicals, video games, paintings, etc. Generally, copyright law is meant to incentivise the creation of original works of authorship for the benefit of the public. To receive copyright protection, a work of authorship must be created by an author, and must have some amount of creativity. If you are the author of an original work, then you typically own the copyright in that work.

Protection usually arises at the moment of creation of a work, without a need for a registration, certification or other formal act.

The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) is an Australian law governing copyrighted materials. The Copyright Act only applies to copyrights and not to trademarks or patents.

• How do I know if I own the copyright to one or more of the images that I am using on the detail page?

A person who authors an original work usually owns the copyright for that work. If you take a photo of your product, you generally have copyright protection in the photo that you took, and you can use that photo on your product detail page to sell that product. However, if you find a photo on someone else’s website, you should not upload that photo to a product detail page without the other person’s approval.

Note: When you add your copyrighted image to a product detail page, you grant VooGlue and its affiliates a licence to use the material. Other sellers can list their items for sale on pages to which you have added your copyrighted images, even if you no longer sell that product. To ensure that you are not violating someone’s copyright, make sure that you only upload images or text that you have created yourself or for which you have the copyright holder’s approval to upload.

• How do I know if I own the copyright for the product that I am selling?

It is important to make sure that the goods that you are selling do not violate a copyright, or you could lose your selling privileges and face potential legal consequences.

There are a number of exceptions to these rules. We recommend you consult a lawyer to determine if any of the exceptions apply to you.

Trademark

1. What is a trademark?

A trademark is a word, symbol, or design or a combination of these (such as a brand name or logo) that a company uses to identify its goods or services and to distinguish them from other companies’ goods and services. In other words, a trademark indicates the source of goods or services. Generally, trademark laws exist to prevent customer confusion about the source of goods or services.

Example: “VooGlue” is a trademark that we use for many of our goods and services. Other VooGlue trademarks contain both pictures and words, such as the “VooGlue” trademark.

A trademark owner usually protects a trademark by registering it with a country-specific trademark office (such as IP Australia). In some cases, a person or company might have trademark rights that are only based on the use of a mark in commerce, even though the mark was never registered with a country-specific trademark office. Those rights are known as common law trademark rights and can be more limited.

• What do trademarks protect?

Generally, trademark law protects sellers of goods and services from customer confusion about who provides, endorses or is affiliated with particular goods or services. A trademark owner might be able to stop others from using a particular mark, or a confusingly similar mark, if using the mark is likely to cause a customer to be confused about whether the product being sold is the trademark owner’s product.

• What types of trademarks are displayed on VooGlue?

Trademarks may be displayed on VooGlue’s product detail pages in the form of product and brand names listed on a product detail page.

IP Australia offers resources to learn more about trademarks.

• Do I always need the rights owner’s approval to use a trademark?

Just because you are not the owner or licensee of a trademark, does not necessarily mean that you cannot sell another company’s product. The use of a trademark will be infringing in Australia if the trademark is being used on the same or similar goods to those for which the mark is registered and the goods you are selling are not genuine, or if your use is likely to cause confusion as to the source, endorsement, or affiliation of the goods.

• As a seller, when can I use someone else’s trademark?

Typically, a seller can use someone else’s trademark in the following circumstances:

1. When selling authentic goods, a seller may use a trademarked name to list those authentic goods. For example, a seller who lists an authentic “Pinzon” product is not necessarily infringing on the owner of the Pinzon trademark because the seller is using the trademark to identify an authentic product.
   1. When using a trademarked word in its ordinary dictionary meaning. .
   1. When making truthful statements that a product is compatible with a trademarked product. 
2. How can I make sure that I am not violating trademark law when selling on VooGlue?

It is important to make sure that the goods that you are selling, and the content of your listings, do not violate a trademark or you could lose your selling privileges and face potential legal consequences. When you decide to sell goods on VooGlue, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are the goods that I am selling from a reputable distributor?
   1. How did I acquire these goods, and will I be able to prove that they are authentic if the question arises?
   1. If you are selling authentic goods that were purchased or sold overseas, does sale in Australia infringe the Australian trademark owner’s rights? To check whether a trademark is registered in Australia you can search for the trademark on the IP Australia website.
   1. Will the way I am describing these goods cause customer confusion (for example, would something about your detail page for the generic sheet set cause customers to believe that they are purchasing a Pinzon sheet set)?
   1. Did I use a brand name or trademark in a non-confusing and truthful manner to describe compatibility (generally allowed) instead of similarity (not allowed)?

• What is counterfeiting?

Counterfeiting is a specific type of trademark infringement. A counterfeit is an unlawful reproduction of a registered trademark — or a mark that is very similar to a registered trademark — in connection with the sale of a product that does not come from the trademark holder.

Counterfeiting requires the use of a registered trademark on the product or packaging. A lookalike item sold on a separate product detail page without the improper use of a registered trademark is not a counterfeit, even though the item might look similar or identical to the trademarked product. Although not a counterfeit, lookalike items may still infringe a registered trademark.

IP Australia provides some general resources for intellectual property rights owners regarding steps to prevent the importation of counterfeit goods.

Patent

1. What is a patent?

A patent is a form of legal protection for a device, substance, method or process. To gain protection, the invention needs to be new, useful, informative or innovative. An issued patent grants its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell or selling the invention for a fixed number of years. An Australian patent will only give you rights to commercially exploit your invention in Australia, for the term of the patent. You can also obtain patent protection overseas if required.

• Are there different types of patents?

There are two principal types of patents in Australia: standard patents and innovation patents. IP Australia provides general resources about the different types of patents and the registration processes involved.

A standard patent gives you long-term protection and control over an invention and can last for up to 20 years from the filing date of your application (or up to 25 years for pharmaceutical substances). To claim this patent over your invention, it must be new, involve an inventive step, and be able to be made or used in an industry.

Innovation patents, on the other hand, can be granted if you want protection for an invention with a short market life that might be superseded by newer innovations. These patents last up to eight years and are designed to protect inventions that do not meet the inventive threshold required for standard patents (as this type of patent requires an innovative step rather than an inventive step).

• What is the difference between a patent, trademark and a copyright?

A patent is different from a trademark in that it protects an invention (such as a new machine) rather than a word or logo used to identify the source of the product (such as the brand name of the product). A patent is different from a copyright in that it does not protect the expressive content of a creative work like a book or a picture, but protects a specific invention, such as a new method of printing books or a new type of camera.

IP Australia provides general resources to learn more about patents.

• How can I make sure that I do not violate someone’s patent when selling on VooGlue?

The manufacturer or authorised distributor of a product might be able to assist you with patent-related issues. If you are unsure whether your content or product violates someone else’s patent, you should consult a lawyer before listing on VooGlue.

Designs

1. What is a design?

A design is a form of legal protection for the appearance of the entire product or a part of it which results, in particular, from the characteristics of line, contours, colours, form, surface structure and/or materials of the product and or the decoration.

• How can I make sure that I do not violate someone’s design when selling on VooGlue?

The manufacturer or distributor of a product might be able to assist you with design-related issues. If you are unsure whether your content or product violates someone else’s design, you should consult a lawyer before listing on VooGlue.

IP Australia provides general resources to learn more about designs and the registration process.

Help! My account received a warning or suspension

1. What happens when I receive a warning that my listing is being removed due to a report of intellectual property rights infringement? What if I own the rights to the intellectual property?

If you receive a warning for infringement, you will have several options to appeal or dispute the claim:

1. If you receive a warning for a product you never listed on VooGlue, reply to the notification you received and let us know that you have never listed the reported product. We will investigate to determine if an error occurred and reinstate your content if appropriate.
   1. If you have an established relationship with the rights owner who submitted the complaint (licence, manufacturing or distribution agreement), we encourage you to contact the rights owner and request that the complaint gets retracted. If we receive a retraction from the rights owner, your content may be reinstated. The rights owner’s contact information is provided in the warning that you received.
   1. Trademark Response: If you believe that a rights owner, or VooGlue, made an error when removing your product listing for counterfeiting or trademark infringement, reply to the notification that you received and provide specific reasons as to why you believe that a mistake was made. Provide any invoice or Order ID that demonstrates the authenticity of the product. We will then re-evaluate the notice and your content may be reinstated.
   1. Patent response: If you believe that a rights owner, or VooGlue, made an error when removing your product listing for patent infringement, reply to the notification that you received and provide specific reasons as to why you believe that a mistake was made.
2. What do I do if I have received multiple warnings of intellectual property infringement?

If you have received multiple warnings of intellectual property infringement and you believe that you are selling authentic products, appeal via your My Account area with the following information:

A list of the allegedly infringing SKUs and at least one of the following:

1. Invoices proving the authenticity of your products; or
   1. Order IDs demonstrating product authenticity; or
   1. An authorisation letter from the rights owner (that is not a forwarded email).
2. What do I do if my account has been suspended?

If your account has been suspended as a result of rights holders submitting notices of intellectual property infringement against your products or content, you can provide us with a viable Plan of Action that includes the following information:

1. The reasons that you were selling allegedly infringing products and or uploaded allegedly infringing content.
   1. The steps that you have taken to ensure that you are no longer infringing.
   1. How you will avoid infringement in the future.
   1. Any other pertinent information.

You should send your Plan of Action via your My Account area or reply to the account suspension notification that you received. We will evaluate your Plan of Action and determine if your account may be reinstated. Note that VooGlue terminates the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.

• What if I did not know that I was violating someone’s intellectual property?

Sellers are expected to follow the law and VooGlue’s policies. VooGlue takes claims of intellectual property infringement seriously. Even if a seller is infringing on someone’s intellectual property without being aware of it, we will still take action and the seller’s account might receive a warning or be suspended. You should consult a lawyer for help to ensure that your business has the right procedures in place to prevent IP infringement.