Has someone stolen your designs? Are they copying your branding, or using your art? These are all common copyright, trademark and intellectual property infringements that we’re familiar with at Red Points, so we’re here to help.
Just follow our simple guide, and those infringing listings on Etsy can be taken down, and you can return to doing what you love!
Step 1: Identify what to report
First things first, you’ll want to have all the important details ready, and this depends on what intellectual property right is being infringed.
Here are the main categories of infringements on Etsy with examples:
- Copyright: A seller uses your videos to advertise their product.
- Trademark: A seller copies your logo and uses it in listings.
- Counterfeit goods: Someone is selling copies of your products that aren’t legitimate.
- Patent: Someone copied your invention and is selling unauthorized versions on Etsy.
What’s common between all of these is you must prove you own some type of IP and another party is abusing it. Etsy’s IP reporting tool isn’t for instances where someone is only partially copying your designs. It’s also not the place to report gray market sellers or people selling legitimate products outside your distribution agreements.
Need more clarification? Etsy has a dedicated intellectual property section on their site, full of legal information to make your experience simpler, found at https://www.etsy.com/legal/ip.
Step 2: Preparing your Etsy intellectual property infringement report information
So, now that you know what’s being infringed, we can move on to the next stage. Here, we’ll tell you what information you should have ready before you actually file your intellectual property infringement report on Etsy.
Be prepared with:
- IP owner information (contact info, address, and personal details)
- Type of IP
- IP registration number
- IP jurisdiction
- Examples of the IP online if possible
- Infringing Etsy URL for a listing, shop, video, or Explore post
- The username of the infringing Etsy user
Optionally, you can also take screenshots of infringing listings. Etsy’s reporting form doesn’t have a place to upload screenshots, but it can help you stay more organized while you prepare the report. Plus, Etsy’s Brand Registry saves detailed information about each listing you report so you don’t need to upload your own images.
Remember, you can keep adding cases of infringement to your report if someone’s copied a number of your products, but if you want to report different types of infringements, you should file separate cases.
Step 3: Submit your infringement report
1. Access Etsy’s report portal
If you’ve prepared all your information, this next part is a breeze.
Simply go to the reporting page at: https://www.etsy.com/legal/ip/report. You will arrive at a page shown in the image below.

You’ll notice there are two options: the Etsy Reporting Portal and the Intellectual Property Infringement Report. The Portal is your first choice as a rights holder or authorized representative. Here, you can upload your IP types and ownership information to use across multiple reports.
It’s also easy to search within the Portal for infringing sellers and listings on Etsy. You can use keywords related to your brand in Etsy’s database and then save possible intellectual property infringements in one place. When you’re ready to file a report, you can select the listings and choose which IP to use.
The standalone infringement report is a good option if you anticipate using the tool a single time. You can report IP infringements in shops, shop videos, or Explore posts with a quick form. However, you can’t report individual listings with this option, you must use the Portal to do that. For this reason, we’ll cover the instructions for filing a report with the Portal below.
2. Fill out the report
To create a report in the Portal, add your copyright, trademark, or patent information. You only have to add this once, then you can use it in any future reports.

The form will ask for more details about your intellectual property rights including the name, description, and location of an example of the work. You’ll also add the registration number and jurisdiction of the IP.

Then, you’ll add an owner to link to the IP:

Now, you’re ready to start a new report. Select the Reports tab and click Create a Report. The system automatically fills out the date but you can add a unique title for your reference.
Choose the IP owner and type of IP that applies to this report. Select Create & Add Listings to search Etsy for infringing content.
You can either select listings from the search results or upload a list of URLs or listing IDs. The Listing ID is a string of numbers after “listing/” in the URL.
3. Submit the report
After you collect infringing listings and select the IP they apply to, you can submit your report. You’ll get an email notification that the report was received. Etsy’s legal team will review your report submission and email you with the outcome.
What happens next?
If your infringement report follows Etsy’s policies and is deemed valid, the platform will remove the infringing listing and contact all parties. Ideally, you’ll never see a counterfeit on Etsy again! But, things aren’t ever that simple. It’s important to follow up and stay informed as your report moves through the process.
Following up
You can monitor the status of all your reports in the Portal when signed in. This makes it easy to track which ones have been accepted and which might need extra information from you. Be sure to respond to Etsy quickly if the platform requests more information. This could be the case if your supporting documentation for your IP isn’t thorough enough. Also, make sure the type of IP matches the type of infringement you’re reporting.
If you used the standalone infringement report form, you’ll have to wait for email communication. You can also contact Etsy’s customer support if more than a few days have passed. The Portal gives you more visibility than the standalone form, so keep that in mind.
Handling disputes
Etsy follows DMCA takedown protocols and allows sellers to file counter-notices when they disagree with the IP infringement report. If you receive a counter-notice, you have 10 days to let Etsy know you’re pursuing further legal action. Otherwise, Etsy will validate the counter-notice and reinstate the content.
Take the time to verify whether a seller really infringes on your IP before submitting the report so you avoid mistakes. For example, Etsy sellers often make accessories for well-known products and use branded terms in descriptions. Stores selling bands for Apple watches would show up in a keyword search for “Apple Watch,” but they aren’t necessarily infringing on IP.
In other cases, a seller might just push back on your report even though they know you have a valid claim. This is when it’s necessary to take further action after a counter-notice. Etsy doesn’t take sides, so you’ll need to get a court order against the infringing seller.
Long-term protection
Etsy’s IP Portal is great for managing multiple reports, but it takes time to manually discover infringements and validate them. That’s where we come in. Red Points’ AI brand protection platform uses a combination of automation and expert human oversight to find infringements on Etsy.
Our platform goes beyond keyword search to look for your logo and visual assets with image search. We also scan marketplaces like Etsy multiple times per day to discover new infringements as they appear on the platform. We send automatic takedown notices and can provide legal backup to settle disputes. Our platform is the easiest way to protect your brand on Etsy over time.

What’s next?
While Etsy started as a way for people to sell handmade items and crafts, IP infringers use it today for their own ends. Thankfully, Etsy makes it easy to report infringements with its Portal. Simply add your IP documents and ownership information then search Etsy for infringing listings to build a report.
However, there’s a downside. Protecting your brand on Etsy manually depends on the time you can put into searching for infringements. Plus, sellers may not use explicit keywords in their listings but use your logo or designs in their photos.
For these reasons, it’s smart to work with a holistic brand protection solution like Red Points. Our platform protects your IP on multiple ecommerce platforms, including Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, and Taobao. Reach out for a free demo to see how Red Points removes infringers on Etsy for you.