Your product description shows up on a competitor's listing, word for word, including the typo you never fixed. That is not a trademark problem. It is a copyright problem, and it has a faster filing path than the trademark complaint most brands reach for first. Your listing copy is an original work, the moment you wrote it, and the DMCA notice for copied text moves at the same speed as the one for copied photos: expeditious removal, which platforms interpret as 24 to 48 hours for a clear case.
The reason brands miss this is that they think of the DMCA as a photo tool. It is not. It covers any original expression, and a product description that you wrote is original expression. The listing that copied it is infringing whether or not the product it sells is genuine.
A valid DMCA counter-notice forces the platform to restore the content no sooner than 10 and no later than 14 business days after receiving it, unless you notify the platform that you have filed a lawsuit seeking a court order. The counter-notice must include a statement under penalty of perjury, identification of the material, and consent to federal court jurisdiction, and the platform has to forward it to you.
A counter-notice is the other side of the DMCA takedown. Your notice took the content down. Their counter-notice says the removal was a mistake or a misidentification, and asks for it back. Under 17 U.S.C. section 512(g)(3) it has to be a written communication to the platform's designated agent with four things: a signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury that the person believes in good faith it was removed by mistake or misidentification, and the person's name, address, phone number, plus consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court where they are located and agreement to accept service of process.
It is not an appeal, and it is not a negotiation. It is a formal statement that starts a clock. The platform must promptly send you a copy and tell you the material will go back up in 10 business days. If you do nothing, it goes back up. If you want it to stay down, the only move is to file a court action and tell the platform before the window closes.
Day zero is when the platform receives a valid counter-notice. The platform forwards it to you and says the content will be restored in 10 business days. The restoration window is no sooner than 10 and no later than 14 business days after receipt. That is the whole decision window, and it is short. Ten business days is two working weeks, and the first thing to do is talk to a lawyer, because the decision is whether to file a federal lawsuit.
If you file, you notify the platform's designated agent that an action has been filed, and the restoration obligation stops. The dispute moves to court, with the cost and time that means. If you do not file, the platform restores the content and the dispute is over at the platform level. Most takedown disputes never reach this stage, because the counter-notice process is designed so that only claimants prepared to go to court will block restoration.
Filing a counter-notice means handing your real name and physical address to the person who filed the takedown, because the platform is required to forward a copy. It also means consenting to be sued in federal court. That is a serious step, and it is why a counter-notice is not a casual reply. For the rights holder on the receiving end, those details are useful: you now know who is behind the content, where they are, and that they are willing to be served.
For the seller or creator who receives a takedown they believe is wrong, the counter-notice is the only route back, and it should be used only when the removal genuinely was a mistake or misidentification. Section 512(f) makes anyone who knowingly misrepresents infringement, or misrepresents a mistaken removal, liable for damages including costs and attorneys fees. The perjury statement is not boilerplate. It is the part that makes a false counter-notice expensive.
Keep reading: Who we protect covers a nearby case in this series.
Ten to fourteen business days from when the platform received it. The content goes back up in that window unless you notify the platform that you have filed a court action seeking to restrain the activity.
A signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury of good faith belief in mistake or misidentification, and the person's name, address and phone number, plus consent to federal court jurisdiction.
Yes. The platform must promptly forward a copy to the person who filed the takedown and tell them the material will be restored in 10 business days unless a court action is filed.
Section 512(f) allows damages, including costs and attorneys fees, against anyone who knowingly materially misrepresents that material was removed by mistake. The perjury statement is what makes that enforceable.