Selling something as "Like (Brand Name)"

For example, if I were to list something using the title "Samsung Defender Case LIKE Otterbox".

Is there any laws making this illegal? I would be sure to clarify it is generic in the description. The adding "otterbox" part is just to get search results. There would be no otterbox trademark on the case or anything, it would be totally generic.

I know it is against eBay rules to list something as "like" and will get my account a MC999 eventually.

Probably won't work like most ideas, but was wondering if there was anything illegal about doing that.

It's not illegal per se, as long as you make it clear.

If it was illegal car manufacturers wouldn't be able to tell "The same features as the [Competitor model], but a thousand dollars cheaper"

SombodyLoLz said:

It's not illegal per se, as long as you make it clear.

If it was illegal car manufacturers wouldn't be able to tell "The same features as the [Competitor model], but a thousand dollars cheaper"

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most manufacturers get permission to do that as it is a form of cross advertising. But to answer op's question it is all dependent on the wording. As long as you do not trash the competitor you might be ok. You better get some legal advise if you plan on going serious with your marketing

HerpDerpSlerp said:

most manufacturers get permission to do that as it is a form of cross advertising. But to answer op's question it is all dependent on the wording. As long as you do not trash the competitor you might be ok. You better get some legal advise if you plan on going serious with your marketing

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Considering I have no money right now I can't really get legal advice. If I started doing it really seriously then getting legal advice would be a must.

Right now it is just an idea. I just wanted advice on if it was a waste of time; if it were illegal to market like that.

Thanks for the replies both of you, really appreciated.

The way to get around it on ebay is only really to describe against it in the description. So anyone searching title and description will see it.

"compared to the ottorbox, this is just as good quality."

ebay doesn't allow you to say that but as panther suggested you can get around it.

This is no different than building a computer and calling it a PC even though it wasn't made by IBM.

Just come right out and tell the customer that it is not an otterbox but a whitebox version of the otterbox.

Take a tack like "inspired by the popular xxx otterbox design..."

There should be some feature on the product that otterbox doesn't have to distinguish yours from the otterbox. Usually this takes the form of a bump, or slight change in design that makes the product different from an otterbox.

For instance, a friend of mine sells clone versions of phones. He advertises his version of a "Samsung Galaxy Note 3" as a "Whitebox Note 3". When you look at his phone and a Samsung, they are identical to each other except for one corner where his phone has a distinct bulge the Samsung doesn't have.

He never says it is a Samsung because it isn't. But he can sell his for 2/3 of what a Samsung costs and pocket $50 a pop, and it is essentially the same thing and is easily mistaken for a Samsung.

It is not labeled at all, not as Samsung or anything else. If you know the product, when you are looking at it it is obvious that it is a clone. If you were an average person you would never know.

It's not illegal - they won't ban you.

But it is against ebay rules - it's a listing violation. You can not use any brand name in any listing that is not that brand name. For example, you can't say "sony computer, like macbook", you can't say macbook any where in title if it's a sony computer. Some people will by pass it with "sony computer new in box and macbook case" which is allowed because listing is for 2 things (1) sony computer and (2) an macbook logo case

If flagged they give warning - won't ban you. But it hurts in search placement and sales a little.

From what I noticed, if the brand name is a big brand name, then they know it's two different brands and will remove. If it's a small brand name, than they don't know the other one is also a different brand name and won't flag.

For example I listed clothing with a carol christian poell jacket (small brand name 33 listings on ebay) and also put Rick owens in title (big brand name has 1,800 results on ebay - ebay knows its a a different brand name) and the listing was removed.

However, when I listed carol christian poell jacket (small brand name 33 listings on ebay) with damir doma (small brand name 200 listings), since both are small brand names, ebay doesn't know them and the listing wasn't flagged.