Founders
For product founders, makers & small brands
They Will Copy You.
Be Ready.
The small-brand playbook for protecting your photos, your name, and your product — and going after the sellers who steal them. From a founder who's been copied, fought back, and recovered $600,000+ from hundreds of infringing sellers.
Launch-week pricing · $47 after · instant download
How this playbook came to exist
"Is this y'all?"
One night at a family cabin, a longtime customer sent me that message — with a screenshot. It wasn't us. It was our exact product and our exact photos, the ones I styled and shot myself, on a stranger's Amazon listing.
A few weeks later it happened again on Walmart. Then again. And again. Someone had decided a small family brand wouldn't fight back.
They were wrong. We registered what was ours, built a case file, put professional monitoring in place within five months, and pursued hundreds of sellers — without paying a dollar of legal fees upfront. The lawyers and enforcement partner took their contingency share when we won. It was worth every penny.
This playbook is the map I wish someone had handed me on day one.
→ Want the whole story first? Read "The First Time I Saw Our Product on Someone Else's Storefront" — free on our Substack.
Chelsey Halbert · Founder, Maple + Lark
What's inside
Five parts.
One fight.
Before You Go After Anyone
Why your first instinct (DM them!) destroys your case, and the audit that tells you what you legally own.
Trademark & Copyright, In Plain English
Real 2026 USPTO fees, the $350–$600 DIY filing walkthrough, and the $65 habit that protects every photo you shoot.
Building Your Case File
How to find copycats hiding under other names — and document them the way a lawyer wants it documented.
Going After Them, Platform by Platform
Amazon Brand Registry, Walmart's Brand Portal, and what actually works on Temu, Shein, and AliExpress.
The Playbook — Exactly Who We Used
The three partners behind our recovery — registration, monitoring, and the $0-upfront contingency enforcement model. Names, websites, how they charge.
+ The Appendix: copy-paste DMCA takedown notice, cease & desist letter, per-infringer evidence checklist, pre-filing trademark worksheet, and the one-page quarterly protection checklist.
Two editions included
Read it anywhere.
Every purchase includes two matching PDFs:
37-page print edition43-page mobile editionThe full designed playbook for your desktop or printer — and a phone edition built for reading in the carpool line.
The value math: one hour with a trademark attorney runs $300+. Drafting a single cease & desist: $250+. The three years it took us to find which partners actually help small brands: painful. The playbook: $37.
Instant download · yours forever
Questions, answered
FAQ
Is this legal advice?
No — it's founder-to-founder experience with real costs, real vendor names, and templates to adapt. Always vet partners yourself and consult a professional for your specific situation.
I haven't been copied yet — is this for me?
Especially you. The whole thesis of the guide is that every dollar spent protecting your brand before someone copies you is cheaper than the fight afterward.
What format is it?
Two PDFs, delivered instantly: a 37-page designed playbook (great on desktop or printed) and a 43-page mobile edition built for your phone.
Do you make money recommending the vendors inside?
No. No affiliate links — just the companies we actually used and would use again, and exactly how they charge.
Which platforms does it cover?
Amazon (including Brand Registry, Transparency, and Project Zero), Walmart Marketplace, Temu, Shein, AliExpress, and the federal enforcement route that works across all of them.
Go protect
what you built.
You started a company because you believed in something. Don't let anyone quietly take that from you.
Disclosure: the partners named in the playbook are the companies Maple + Lark used and would use again. We're not paid to recommend them. This guide reflects our honest experience — it isn't legal advice or a guarantee of results, and every founder's situation is different.