Product Compliance, Safety, Restricted Products, and Intellectual Property
Domain 4: Product Compliance, Safety, Restricted Products, and Intellectual Property
This domain tests pre-listing diligence: is the product legal to sell, safe, documented, and non-infringing? Questions often combine two issues, such as a restricted category plus a trademark.
Restricted products and documentation
Restricted categories include medical devices, supplements, pesticides, batteries, children's products, and some food and cosmetics. Requirements are usually documentation-based: manufacturer authorization, test reports, safety data sheets, labeling, and registration. Saying "I sourced it from a wholesaler" is not authorization; the chain must reach the brand owner or an authorized distributor.
Intellectual property
Trademark protects brand names and logos; copyright protects creative works and images; patent protects inventions and designs. Resale of genuine goods is generally allowed only if the goods are genuine, were legally acquired, and are not materially different. Using a brand's image without permission is a separate copyright issue.
Worked example
A seller buys 100 genuine branded headphones from a liquidation lot and lists them as new. The brand files a complaint. The seller needs invoices showing the supply chain back to the brand, and the goods must be genuine and not altered. If the seller cannot show provenance, the listing is treated as counterfeit-risk and removed.
Traps
Treating a supplier invoice as brand authorization; assuming "genuine" covers expired or recalled stock; ignoring safety labeling; and using a brand name in backend search terms.