Nearly 1,000 listings have been removed from the shelves! A large number of sellers have been affected

"The more difficult the market is, the more frequent infringements seem to occur. After much difficulty launching a new product, applying for a trademark, and passing brand registration, it was discovered within two days that infringement had occurred, and the product was still selling better than the original. If you are unlucky, you may encounter a rogue law firm, and it may infringe on other products for no apparent reason..."

In the cross-border circle, some sellers are cautious but still suffer from infringement; some sellers want to take shortcuts but end up laying mines for themselves.

Big brands reported 853 more infringing listings, Amazon has deleted them

Recently, Canon, a major infringer , revealed that in the first quarter of this year , it had used the "Report Violation Tool ( RAV ) " to report to Amazon a number of infringing listings on the platform, including six sites in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands .

Specifically, there are 165 listings involved in the Amazon France site , 157 listings in the Amazon Germany site , 157 listings in the Amazon Italy site, 137 listings in the Amazon Spain site, 134 listings in the Amazon UK site, and 123 listings in the Amazon Netherlands site. Currently, Amazon has removed a total of 853 infringing listings .

Printers, cameras, camcorders, copiers, fax machines, image scanners ... Canon's products are sold all over the world, and its brand influence is obvious to all. Because of this, some sellers are hoping to make a fortune in the market through non-compliant operations, but this is just a landmine for themselves.

Canon has always been very aware of the protection of intellectual property rights, especially keeping a close eye on major e-commerce platforms. Its laser toner cartridge products alone have been repeatedly removed from the shelves due to infringement issues, and many third-party sellers' listings have been deleted.

As far as toner cartridges are concerned, it is not uncommon for this product to be infringed. In February this year, Amazon also joined forces with Brother , a well-known office supplies manufacturer , to sue 18 German sellers who counterfeited Brother printer toner cartridges and sold them on Amazon .

This time, Canon stated that third-party sellers on Amazon infringed on several of its patents in Europe , including: 2087407, 2137577, 1977289, 3470931 and 3270230.

In fact, Canon has submitted a large number of infringement reports to Amazon since June 2018 and successfully deleted 31,116 infringing listings. Every quarter, Canon, which attaches great importance to intellectual property rights, submits infringement reports to Amazon and requests it to remove related products involved in infringement.

Due to infringement of popular IP, 3,000 listings were removed?

Hot sales naturally attract followers. Some sellers analyze the advantages of brand products to make more popular products, but some sellers just want to copy them, and they may infringe trademarks and design patents if they are not careful ...

But the bigger the brand, the more attention it pays to the protection of intellectual property rights. Many sellers have fallen into the trap of infringing big brands, and the peripheral market, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, is even more "disaster-stricken".

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Over the years, the video game SONIC THE HEDGEHOG has become a global hit, spawning a series of art works such as movies. The protagonist Sonic has become a hot commodity in the IP market with his cute appearance and the popularity of the game . On Amazon, there are countless peripheral products that include this IP image, with nearly 7,000 listings on sale , covering categories such as clothing , hats, slippers, toys, blankets, watches, lamps , etc.

Just last year, searching for SONIC THE HEDGEHOG on Amazon yielded more than 10,000 listings. Now, there are 3,000 fewer listings, and many of them may have been removed due to infringement. In addition, the brand name SONIC THE HEDGEHOG has also been registered as a trademark .

Little Yellow Duck

The IP character Little Yellow Duck has been the subject of numerous infringements in various markets around the world. A long time ago, its owner registered the relevant text and graphic trademarks, and the 25 images derived from it are also protected by copyright . Last year, the copyright holder commissioned HSP Law Firm to file a series of lawsuits against trademark infringement and copyright infringement .

EMOJI

As online social networking becomes increasingly important, EMOJI emoticons have become an indispensable part of people's daily lives . The brand owner, EMOJI COMPANY GMBH, has registered 35 categories of trademarks in more than 100 countries and regions around the world, such as EMOJI, ICONZ, SUPERMOJIS, THE EMOTICONZ, etc. Its emoticons are also protected by copyright law .

We can usually see EMOJI-related emoticon designs in various categories such as clothes, socks , quilts, and blankets , but this may involve infringement. In December last year, EMOJI COMPANY GMBH commissioned HSP Law Firm to initiate trademark infringement and copyright infringement.

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In addition to the above IP brands, there are many other big brands that have been fighting against infringers in the field of intellectual property rights for many years. Even super brands such as Dior and Chanel are facing a large number of infringers. Do you think you are safe if you don't follow the trend? Not at all! Common products and commonly used keywords are all potential infringement risks.

Common words and popular products carry copyright risks. Sellers: No way out

It is not just well-known brands. Once a product is "profitable", it will become popular in the market, and the risk of infringement will begin to increase. On Amazon, just looking at the Amazon Best Sellers list, almost all of the TOP10 products have infringement risks.

Home and fashion categories are areas where infringement is extremely serious. Some sellers in related categories use some popular pictures when designing products to suit the aesthetics of the local market, but this often involves infringement.

Since March this year , Albert Koetsier, a well-known artist , has filed several infringement lawsuits against 1,033 seller accounts on e-commerce platforms , and the list is still being updated . Although the specific copyright patterns have not been made public, it was found that there are 1,990 of his works on sale on the Art.com website, and there is also a lot of copyright registration information on the official website of the US Copyright Office .

Some of the seller accounts involved in infringement

As a high-demand product, the sales performance of toys on Amazon can be imagined, and infringement incidents are not uncommon.

Plasmart, a Canadian toy brand, has successfully entered more than 50 markets around the world with its unique and creative products . However , in April this year, one of its children's twisting cars was infringed upon in relation to copyright, trademark and patent. Plasmart has now appointed THE BRICKELL IP GROUP, PLLC to represent it in the litigation .

Please note that Plasmart ’s word trademark PlasmaCar was registered in Class 28 of the sports toys category in 2014. Sellers selling related products should avoid using this term in their listings.

Previously, common words such as "100%" and "one" were registered as trademarks, causing dissatisfaction among a number of cross-border sellers, but this outrageous incident still has a sequel.

Last December, " Compatible with " was applied for trademark registration , with the US serial number 97716384, and the applicant was a Hong Kong company . Although the application was rejected in February this year, the applicant can file a defense or supplement evidence within three months and apply again .

When searching for "Compatible with" on Amazon's US site , more than 100,000 listings appear . Auto parts and 3C categories are the most common scenarios for this keyword , and categories such as smart home and outdoor camping are also involved .

Commonly used words are patented, popular products are also protected by intellectual property rights, sticky hooks, shower caps, bucket lids ... all carry hidden risks of infringement.

I wanted to share a piece of the market with hot-selling products , but found out that I infringed my rights. I wanted to do popular categories, but I still infringed my rights. I tried very hard to avoid non-compliance, but I was still affected by surprise.

Infringement

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