Reporting trademark or trade dress infringement or responding to a trademark or trade dress notice

On this page, you can find information about Shopify's trademark and trade dress policy, how to report a trademark or trade dress infringement, and how to respond to a trademark or trade dress notice.

Shopify's trademark and trade dress policy

Shopify's policy on trademark and trade dress is similar to our copyright policy, but there are some important differences:

If Shopify receives a valid notice of trademark or trade dress infringement regarding content on a store, then Shopify will communicate directly in a merchant's store admin making clear which content is the subject of the notice. You'll have two days to respond before we remove content.
If your response is deemed sufficient, then we may decline to remove the disputed content or, if it has been removed, allow the merchant to repost the content immediately.

Reporting trademark and trade dress infringement

Shopify's online form is the most efficient way to submit a notice of alleged trademark or trade dress infringement.

Your trademark and/or trade dress notice must include the following information for Shopify to be able to take action:

Your legal name and contact information.
Direct links to samples of the trademark or trade dress claimed to be infringed. If you don't have a direct link, then you may provide a description of the trademark or trade dress.
Direct links to the specific content on Shopify that you believe infringes your trademark or trade dress. A list of each individual page containing the content is required - a general shop link will not be accepted.
For each trademark at issue:
- Description of the trademark.
- Countries it's registered in.
- Trademark registration number.
- Category of products and/or services covered by the registration.
- Description of how you believe the content violates or infringes your trademark(s).
For each trade dress at issue:
- Description of the trade dress, including the particular aspects (such as size, shape, color, texture, etc.) of the content that make its appearance distinctive.
- Statement that the trade dress is non-functional.
- Description of how the content on Shopify infringes your trade dress(es), including the aspects of the content (such as size, shape, color, texture, etc.) that you believe are similar to, and likely to cause confusion with, the trade dress.
Confirmation that:
- You have a good faith belief that use of the content in the manner complained of is not authorized by the trademark or trade dress owner, its agent, or the law.
- All of the information in the notice is accurate.
A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you are the trademark or trade dress owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
Your physical or electronic signature.

Responding to a trademark or trade dress notice

I received a trademark or trade dress notice for content on my storefront. Now what?

If your store receives a valid trademark or trade dress notice, then you'll get a notification in the store admin that content has been reported on your store. You then have two options:

If you review the notice and agree that you don't have the right to use the content, then no further action is necessary. The content will go offline if we don't hear from you after two days.
If you review the notice and believe the content was reported as a result of mistake or misidentification, then you can file a response.

How do I file a trademark or trade dress response?

If you received a trademark or trade dress notice, then you can send your response to us through your store admin. Your response must include all of the following information to be considered:

The legal name and sufficient contact information of the person submitting the response.
A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located or, if your address is located outside of the United States, you consent to jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware.
A statement that you will accept service of process from the party who submitted the trademark or trade dress notice or its agent.
A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the content was removed as a result of a mistake or misidentification.
Your physical or electronic signature.

What happens after I file a response?

After you submit a valid response, Shopify will send a copy to the party that submitted the trademark or trade dress notice and generally permit you to repost the disputed content.