This year's Prime Day will be held in July, although the specific time has not been determined, it does not affect the seller's full preparation. The more careful you are at this time, the more careful you may miss out on the explosive solo event. Recently, a large number of listings have been taken down, and the following minefields must be guarded against!
Minefield One: Infringement of Common Product Terms
Since April, sellers have been accused of trademark abuse and have received listing removal notices due to infringement of commonly used product terms, including operation, durable, Summer, Morandi, collectible, etc.
Among them, many sellers were scanned for durable, which means durable and long-lasting. Sellers often use it when describing product quality, and it is widely used in various categories.
According to the search, Durable is not only registered as a trademark, but also involves a wide range of categories, registered in categories such as 03, 09, and 35. Sellers who sell related products should use it with caution.
In addition to durable, a large number of stores have been sued and frozen for XM-L, a size quantifier commonly used to describe the size of lighting fixtures or electronic products, with over 2000 related listings on Amazon.
It was found that XM-L was already registered as a trademark by Cree LED Company in 2017. The company has filed multiple lawsuits for trademark infringement and has filed two consecutive cases since the beginning of this year. XM-L is one of the trademark rights protection trademarks.
Avoidance suggestions:
- Before selecting or listing products, it is important to conduct a trademark search to avoid using other people's trademarks on the listing. Even common product terms used by many peers should not be taken lightly (Jite has compiled a tutorial on common word trademarks and national trademark search, which can be obtained by scanning the QR code at the end of the article if necessary);
- Pay more attention to trademark registration in daily life. Once you find that your commonly used product terms have been successfully registered or are currently being registered, you can take measures such as modifying the listing, raising objections, or invalidating the trademark to protect yourself.
Minefield 2: Appearance patent infringement
There have been a lot of patent infringement cases this year, especially the appearance patent protection cases initiated by Chinese sellers. According to incomplete statistics, over 20 cases have been exposed in the past month, involving products such as mirrors, dog cages, toys, Bluetooth earphones, VR glasses accessories, etc.
In a series of cases, the most astonishing one is the luggage tire cover rights protection case initiated by brand owner LOVITEDO, LLC, which sued 831 stores:
The most surprising case was the toy water polo rights protection case. The appearance patent of the product was granted on May 7th, and the patent holder filed a lawsuit for infringement on May 21st, which can be described as rapid.
And the rapid case has gradually become the mainstream. In addition to toy water polo, products such as mesh beach bags (issued on March 26, issued on May 21) and wax melting lamps (issued on March 12, issued on April 10) are all members of the rapid case.
Avoidance suggestions:
- Whether it is a new product planned to be launched or a relatively popular product (regardless of the sales time), it is necessary to conduct a patent search to avoid selling products with highly similar appearance patents to others (Jite has compiled a summary of recently issued patents and a patent search tutorial, which can be obtained by scanning the QR code at the end of the article if necessary);
If you have good ideas, techniques, or methods, it is important to register a patent as soon as possible. This not only ensures your own rights and interests in case of infringement disputes, but also prevents malicious registration.
Minefield Three: Copyright Infringement
Copyright is not like a trademark or patent, with no class restrictions. Once an infringement lawsuit is initiated, all types of products cannot be exempted, and the degree of protection and protection is perfect. More and more peers and brands are using copyright to combat infringement. According to incomplete statistics, more than 3000 accounts have been sued and frozen!
Artist Larry Zach, who excels in drawing wildlife, has frozen 969 stores with 20 copyrighted paintings:
Christmas tree decorations that can create a festive atmosphere, Gas Can Ornament, frozen 403 stores in one incident:
The explosive dog puzzle has plunged 154 stores into a vortex of infringement with just one product image:
Avoidance suggestions:
It is best to use original works. According to the Copyright Law, a work is automatically copyrighted upon completion and is protected by law, which is the principle of automatic protection of copyright. In other words, as long as someone else's work is used on the listing, there is a risk of infringement. Given this situation, if sellers want to completely avoid copyright infringement, they must be "original", otherwise even if they are very careful, they may still engage in infringement in unknown circumstances.
- Register copyright in a timely manner. Although copyright has an automatic protection principle, when encountering copyright disputes, it is still necessary to have a registration certificate as evidence in order to resolve the dispute faster and better.
- If the conditions do not allow copyright registration temporarily, the proof of creation must be kept when creating. For example, when shooting product images, it is important to pay attention to preserving the original image and providing proof of creation with time nodes. In case of copyright disputes such as hijacking or malicious complaints, there can also be sufficient evidence to prove the ownership of copyright.