Amazon sellers are often confronted with notices of infringement from other sellers in the Amazon marketplace. For that reason, it is important to understand how Amazon shows products for sale on its website.

Each and every product sold on Amazon has a single "product detail page". The product will also have what is called an Amazon Standard Identification Number, known as its "ASIN". When someone looks thru Amazon for a certain product, they are directed to that product's detail page.

As understood by Amazon sellers, this product detail page is the homepage for that product and describes its specifications. Importantly, this homepage will also show the sellers that offer the product. Remember that ASIN?

Now, to sell a product that is already sold elsewhere on Amazon, a seller must match its offering to an existing ASIN and its accompanying product detail page. Amazon DOES NOT ALLOW sellers to create a new ASIN for a product that is already being sold on Amazon. This raises the question – “who controls the information placed on a details page?”

Amazon determines what information is included on a product detail page based on seller input. But, there is no guarantee that the information provided by a seller will appear on that page. Particularly if the product is not new to Amazon.

When multiple sellers are offering the same product, the detail page defaults to one seller's offering. Amazon refers to this default offering as the "Buy Box." The product's detail page will say that the product is "sold by" whichever seller is in the Buy Box at that time. What about other sellers?

Other sellers’ offerings are available under the page's links to "New & Used from" or "Other Sellers on Amazon." Per Amazon’s policy, only professional sellers who meet certain performance-based requirements are eligible for placement in the Buy Box. If multiple sellers are eligible, it is awarded to the best performer.

It is unclear whether Amazon checks the accuracy of info on a product's detail page. It seems that Amazon chooses the information to include via an automated process.

Amazon does not notify the sellers of a given product when it changes information on the product detail page. Lawsuits over the ill effects of this system are difficult for a seller to win. So, it is far more effective to comply with Amazon’s policies, including its IP Policy (more on this in another posting). See for example New Age Imps., Inc. v. VD Imps., Inc., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165653 (C.D. Cal. July 18, 2019).