How to Complete and Submit the Shopify Trademark Infringement Report Form

To report a trademark violation on a Shopify-hosted store, use the Shopify trademark infringement report form at shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue/trademark-infringement. The trademark owner or an authorized representative can file it, and a complete submission tells Shopify’s Trust and Safety team exactly which pages to review and why.¹ Posting content that infringes someone else’s intellectual property violates Shopify’s Acceptable Use Policy, and Shopify can remove that content at its discretion.²

Gather Your Information First

Incomplete reports slow things down and can be rejected. Have the following ready before you open the form:¹

Your full legal name, email address, and contact details.
Direct URLs showing your trademark as it exists (your own site, a USPTO registration page, or similar). If no link is available, a written description works.
The exact product or store page URLs where the infringement appears. A general store link will not be accepted.
For each mark: a description, the registration number, the countries where it is registered, and the product or service categories covered.
An explanation of how the merchant’s content violates your trademark rights.

Registration is not required to file. The form covers both registered and unregistered marks. For an unregistered or common law mark, be ready to describe how you have been using it in commerce along with its geographic reach and recognition, since there is no registration number to cite.

Filling Out the Form

Open shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue/trademark-infringement. The page is specific to trademark and trade dress claims, so there is no category dropdown to navigate.

Begin with the contact section. Enter your legal name (or the name of the person authorized to act for the trademark owner), your title or role, and your email address. Shopify shares this contact information with the reported merchant, so use an address you are comfortable disclosing.

Move to the trademark details. For each mark at issue, enter its description, registration number, the countries of registration, and the product or service categories covered. If one store is infringing multiple registrations you hold, list each registration separately.

Then paste the URLs of the infringing content. This is where most reports go wrong. Every page you want Shopify to review needs its own direct link. If a store uses your mark on five different product pages, include all five. A homepage link alone will not do. Shopify evaluates infringement page by page, and anything you leave out will not be reviewed.

In the description field, explain how the merchant’s use of your mark infringes. The strongest reports show why the use creates a likelihood of consumer confusion, meaning a reasonable shopper could mistake the merchant’s products for yours or believe they are sponsored or approved by your brand. Consider whether the marks look or sound alike, whether they share a commercial impression, and whether the products compete in the same market or sell through similar channels. A clear, specific explanation gives reviewers something concrete to evaluate.

The Legal Declarations You Sign

Before you submit, you confirm two things. First, that you have a good faith belief the reported content is not authorized by the trademark owner, their agent, or the law. Second, under penalty of perjury, that everything in your notice is accurate and that you are the trademark owner or authorized to act on the owner’s behalf.¹

The perjury statement is not boilerplate. Under federal law, anyone who makes a false statement under penalty of perjury faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.³ Shopify also warns that anyone harmed by a false or bad-faith notice, including Shopify itself, can sue for damages and attorneys’ fees.² And the Lanham Act makes anyone who obtains a trademark registration through false representations liable to anyone injured by that registration.⁴

Sign with your full legal name (this serves as your electronic signature), complete any CAPTCHA, and click Submit.

What Happens After You Submit

Shopify sends an email confirming the Trust and Safety team has received your report. The team then reviews whether the notice meets the requirements of a valid trademark claim.²

If the report is valid, Shopify notifies the merchant through their Shopify admin, identifying the reported content and whether it will be removed.¹ Your contact information goes to the merchant as part of that notification, which is one reason accuracy in the contact fields matters; it also lets the merchant reach out directly to try to resolve the dispute. Communication with Shopify’s Legal and Trust and Safety teams happens by email only. There is no phone or live-chat support for intellectual property matters.

Processing time varies. Straightforward cases may resolve within a few business days. Complex claims or high submission volumes can take longer.

If the Merchant Pushes Back

A merchant who receives a notice can accept the removal or file a formal response disputing the claim through their Shopify admin.¹ If a valid response comes in, Shopify sends you a copy and generally allows the merchant to repost the disputed content.

At that point the dispute is between you and the merchant. If you believe the infringement is clear, the usual next step is to consult an intellectual property attorney about a civil action. Under the Lanham Act, using a registered mark in commerce without consent in a way likely to cause confusion or deceive consumers creates civil liability for the infringer.⁵

Consequences for the Merchant and What Comes Next

A single valid notice typically results in removal of the specific content identified. Shopify takes a harder line on repeat offenders: stores that receive multiple uncontested infringement notices face termination, and when a store is terminated, other shops owned or operated by the same person are subject to termination as well. Shopify also keeps discretion to shut down a store for a single instance of willful or particularly egregious infringement.⁶

Removed content stays offline unless the merchant gets permission from the trademark holder or files a successful dispute response. If neither happens, it is gone permanently from that store.

Getting one listing taken down does not stop the same merchant, or a different one, from posting similar content later. Each new instance requires a separate report through the same form, so plan on periodic checks for new uses of your mark on Shopify-hosted stores.

1
Shopify Help Center. Reporting Trademark or Trade Dress Infringement or Responding to a Trademark or Trade Dress Notice
2
Shopify Help Center. Legal Removals and Intellectual Property
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. Chapter 79 – Perjury – Section: 1621. Perjury Generally
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1120 – Civil Liability for False or Fraudulent Registration
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1114 – Remedies; Infringement; Innocent Infringers
6
Shopify Help Center. Reporting Copyright Infringement or Responding to a Copyright Notice