Building-block seller Acute Mastery sues the Amazon storefront behind a CAXIMSY baseball set after a DMCA counter-notice

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1 in No. 2:26-cv-03879, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, filed October 13, 2026 (13 pages), and assigned to Judge Theresa L. Fricke. The plaintiff is Acute Mastery LLC, a Wyoming company. The defendants are Chen Zexin, an individual the complaint says lives in China; Chaozhoushixingxinxinmaoyiyouxiangongsi, which the complaint describes as a Chinese business doing business as "Xinxin trade co., LTD" and "CAXIMSY"; and Does 1 to 10, described as manufacturers, suppliers, and affiliated storefronts. Counsel for the plaintiff is Michael S. Brandt of AMZ Sellers Attorney. The plaintiff demands a jury trial. The exhibits include the two Amazon Brand Registry reports (Exhibit 1), Amazon's email forwarding the counter-notification (Exhibit 2), photographs of the work and of the accused product (Exhibits 3 and 4), and the registration certificate (Exhibit 5). (Compl. pp. 1 to 4, 12 to 13; Exs. 1 to 5.)

What the complaint alleges

The work is Snaptor Glove and Ball, a building-block sculpture of an open baseball glove and ball, with associated two-dimensional design files. The complaint says Acute Mastery's employees created it in 2025 as a work made for hire, that it was first published November 2, 2025, and that the Copyright Office registered it as 2-D artwork and sculpture under No. VA 2-499-834, effective May 5, 2026. Acute Mastery sells it on Amazon under the SNAPTOR brand. (Compl. paras. 1, 5, 19 to 23; Ex. 5.)

The accused product is Amazon ASIN B0HFCH2RJ7, listed as "CAXIMSY Baseball Building Blocks Set, 3D Sports Model Kit with Bat & Glove." The complaint alleges that its glove and ball reproduce the registered sculpture block for block, copying its pose, contours, color selection and layering, webbing, seam rendering, and proportions, and that adding a building-block bat does not excuse the copying. It pleads access through sales in the same Amazon category since November 2025 and, alternatively, striking similarity. On information and belief, it alleges the CAXIMSY listing first went up after the May 5, 2026 registration date. (Compl. paras. 2, 24 to 27, 36.)

On the takedown sequence, the complaint says Acute Mastery filed DMCA notices with Amazon on September 23 and September 28, 2026, and Amazon accepted them and removed the listing. On October 8, Amazon forwarded a counter-notification under 17 U.S.C. 512(g), signed electronically by Chen under penalty of perjury, stating a good-faith belief that the listing was removed by mistake or misidentification, consenting to the jurisdiction of any judicial district where Amazon may be found, and agreeing to accept service from the complaining party. Amazon's email in Exhibit 2 says the listing would be restored unless Amazon received notice of a lawsuit within 10 business days. The complaint alleges the counter-notification was false because the listing was removed for copying, and that it identifies no mistake and claims neither independent creation nor a license. (Compl. paras. 3 to 4, 13, 29 to 30; Exs. 1, 2.)

For personal jurisdiction, the complaint relies on that consent and on Amazon's Seattle headquarters, and alternatively on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(2), pleading that the defendants directed U.S. dollar sales with fulfillment to U.S. addresses. (Compl. paras. 12 to 17.)

Claims and relief

The first claim alleges willful direct infringement of the reproduction, derivative work, distribution, and display rights under 17 U.S.C. 106 and 501 against all defendants. The second alleges that Chen is contributorily and vicariously liable for the business's infringement, and that the Doe manufacturers and suppliers are secondarily liable. The prayer asks for a declaration of willful infringement; preliminary and permanent injunctions covering the CAXIMSY listing and any substantially similar product on Amazon or any other platform; impoundment and destruction under 17 U.S.C. 503, including inventory in Amazon fulfillment centers and the molds and design files; actual damages and profits or, at the plaintiff's election, statutory damages up to $150,000 for willful infringement; damages, costs, and fees under 17 U.S.C. 512(f), the DMCA provision on knowing material misrepresentations; an accounting; and fees under 17 U.S.C. 505. (Compl. paras. 33 to 47; pp. 11 to 12.)

The counter-notice clock

Section 512(g)(2)(C) of the Copyright Act directs a service provider that receives a counter-notification to restore the removed material not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days later, unless its designated agent first receives notice from the original complainant that it has filed an action seeking a court order against the subscriber. Section 512(g)(3)(D) requires a subscriber outside the United States to consent to jurisdiction in any judicial district where the service provider may be found. Here the counter-notification was forwarded on October 8 and the complaint was filed on October 13. Separately, 17 U.S.C. 412 generally conditions statutory damages and attorney's fees on registration before the infringement began or within three months after first publication; the complaint pleads that the CAXIMSY listing began after the May 5, 2026 effective date.