VeRO takedown — but not the usual way

“A home-based seller of handmade crafts has won a trademark lawsuit by default against an artwork licensing giant,” reports AuctionBytes: Jennifer Heist makes handmade collectible fabric crafts, such as checkbook covers, photo holders and bookmarks, and sells them online and at craft shows. She runs the business out of her home under the name of Check Me Out. Heist has sold over 9,000 items on eBay since 2000. In March, she filed a complaint against Laurel Burch Artworks Inc. after the company allegedly asked eBay to take down one of Heist’s listings because it violated the eBay Trademark Violation - Unauthorized Item policy. The request had been made through eBay’s VeRO program set up for handling such matters. Heist sought a declaratory judgement that she had not infringed on Laurel Burch Artworks’ copyright and trademark... [read full story]