My paypal funds has been restricted duo to a law suit

[reayn]

i am a seller on ebay, i sell posters and today i received a message from paypal and my funds were restricted i can't use that money anymore and it's all i have (4000$).
I live in morocco and drop ship from china.
this is the message i revived :
"We received a court order on April 17, 2019, affecting your access to your
PayPal account due to possible infringement of intellectual properties of
RAZORBACKS. Until further notice, your ability to send payments, receive
payments, withdraw funds, or access the funds in your PayPal account has
been limited.
A judgment order may follow and require us to take further actions on the
funds in your PayPal account. If you have any questions about this
infringement action, it is important that you contact the plaintiff's
representative outlined below to respond to this issue:
(Name removed) LTD
(Email removed)
Court Order Details
Court: U.S. District Court for the NORTHERN District of ILLINOIS
Plaintiff: RAZORBACKS
Court Case Number: Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas et al v
The Part; Case No. xxxxxxxxxx
If you have any questions, please contact us by clicking Help at the bottom
of the PayPal homepage."
I had one listing for the "RAZORBACKS" that never sold , so didn't make money out of it.
What can i expect to happen ? your help is greatly appreciated

 

[quincy]

I recommend you find an international attorney who specializes in copyright and trademark law. You can find an attorney in Morocco to help you respond to the notice of infringement.

As you read in the other thread, you can expect to have your PayPal account frozen for awhile, possibly permanently disabled. Possibly depleted to settle a lawsuit.

The University of Arkansas might be content to just have your counterfeit or copyright-infringed item(s) removed from the location online. The University of Arkansas also could demand compensation for your unauthorized use of rights-protected material. But a copyright or trademark infringement lawsuit, while not out of the question, is probably not probable if you live in Morocco.

The University of Arkansas will be most interested in stopping the infringement at its source.

Here is a link to the older thread you posted to, which now might be returned to the archives where it belongs:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/i-got-sued-because-of-infringement-of-intellectual-property-what-i-am-supposed-to-do.648890/

 

[reayn]

thank you so much

 

[quincy]

thank you so much

You're welcome, reayn. I appreciate the thanks.

Good luck.

 

[adjusterjack]

What can i expect to happen ?

One thing you can expect is to lose the lawsuit by default if you don't respond to it properly. I suggest you contact the court and get a complete copy of the case file sent to you. If you weren't personally served with a summons and complaint, the court may have allowed service by publication.

See the following for locations and phone numbers:

https://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/Pages.aspx?page=PlaceinHolding
You'll need an attorney located where the court is located.

 

[quincy]

An attorney in Morocco who handles international law would be smart to begin. There is a limited time within which one can respond to the suit so reayn does not have the luxury of waiting too long.

 

[adjusterjack]

There is a limited time within which one can respond to the suit

Which supports my suggestion to use an attorney in Chicago or Rockford (whichever the suit was filed) who has runners to the courthouse every day to get a copy of the case file and has immediate knowledge of the filing and pleading procedures of the court.

 

[quincy]

Which supports my suggestion to use an attorney in Chicago or Rockford (whichever the suit was filed) who has runners to the courthouse every day to get a copy of the case file and has immediate knowledge of the filing and pleading procedures of the court.

Yes. Your suggestion seemed to imply he needed to seek out an attorney in Illinois, though. He doesn't. He just needs to find an international firm in Morocco that can respond to an Illinois suit, and to perhaps work to get reayn dismissed from the suit (which might be difficult). What is nice is that Morocco has many international firms.

An additional note: The University of Arkansas was awarded damages last year against 40+ defendants in a trademark infringement lawsuit over the unauthorized selling of unlicensed Razorback merchandise. Damages claimed by UA were $8.6 million.

Each defendant was ordered to pay $200,000 for willfully violating the University of Arkansas trademark rights. Funds held in the defendants' online accounts were ordered to be turned over to Arkansas.

That suit was one of dozens of similar suits filed against infringers and counterfeiters last year alone. All sellers in these cases have been permanently enjoined from using their online merchant accounts.

The defendants have been notified of the suits filed against them through emails and through electronic publications of the legal actions.

The purpose of these lawsuits is to shut down all piracy sites.

This does not bode well for reayn, who probably should consider the funds in his PayPal account gone and his PayPal account permanently closed.

 

[adjusterjack]

Yes. Your suggestion seemed to imply he needed to seek out an attorney in Illinois, though. He doesn't.

You're right. He doesn't "need" to though it would certainly be more prudent as I explained in my second comment regarding attorney selection.

 

[quincy]

You're right. He doesn't "need" to though it would certainly be more prudent as I explained in my second comment regarding attorney selection.

I don't see how one is more "prudent" than the other. Convenience is a factor. A local attorney makes sense.

The main concern, however, is responding in a timely fashion to the suit. The majority of the defendants in the other cases did not respond and all of the money held in their accounts was ordered released to the plaintiffs with the default judgments.

It depends, I suppose, on how much reayn wants the $4000 in his account. Some defendants sought, and were granted, dismissals from the suits (on various grounds).

 

[reayn]

the 4000$ is all i have and that business is my full job, if they close my paypal i am kind of screwed, I tried calling them and they said i need to pay some fees so they send me the complete copy of the case, but what should i do with it ? as i said earlier , i never even sold anything of their brand. they can still take all of my money ?

 

[quincy]

the 4000$ is all i have and that business is my full job, if they close my paypal i am kind of screwed, I tried calling them and they said i need to pay some fees so they send me the complete copy of the case, but what should i do with it ? as i said earlier , i never even sold anything of their brand. they can still take all of my money ?

Find an international trademark attorney in your area and have this attorney review the case. You have very little time to respond to the notice of infringement.

If you do not respond, you more than likely will lose your PayPal account and all funds in it.

That might be the eventual outcome for you anyway, but your attorney might be able to get you dismissed from the suit.

Good luck.