Another Chinese prank! All categories were attacked, and hundreds of listings were removed from the shelves

One seller complained: "In the cross-border circle, if Chinese people don't deal with other Chinese people, they are all scammers. If Chinese people deal with other Chinese people, it is the norm."

The sellers said this because whenever they encountered a prank, they would go through a lot of trouble to find out that the prank was usually done by their domestic counterparts. In particular, some Chinese people took advantage of Amazon's crackdown on infringements to manipulate the sellers and make them angry.

Just after they returned from the Spring Festival holiday, before they could get their business operations in order, they were faced with a wave of pranks. This time, the scope of the pranks was very wide, covering almost all categories.

Sellers in all categories have been subject to malicious complaints, and a large number of links have been removed

"Amazon Fifth Master" posted angrily that some Chinese people had launched malicious attacks again, tampered with listings on a large scale, and then complained about infringements, resulting in a large number of listings being removed from the shelves. Among them, sellers in almost all categories were affected, and his company was also caught in the crossfire.

The complaint type is trademark misuse (i.e. trademark infringement), and counterfeit goods (without test purchase), and the infringing trademark is "OIMG".

I believe that many people have noticed two words in the revelations of the "Amazon Five Lords": "tampering". In short, there is no "OIMG" in the description of the seller's listing, but it has been maliciously tampered with. One seller said that 40 links on his European site were maliciously manipulated in this way.

At the same time, some sellers said that after receiving the complaint letter, they checked the listing and found that this word was not included, but the product was also taken off the shelves.

According to feedback, this problem is currently concentrated in European sites, including Italy, France and other sites where sellers have said they have been attacked. Sellers' listings, ranging from dozens to hundreds, have all been removed.

Seeing the above feedback, many sellers will feel familiar. This is not exactly the same as the "Closhion" trademark infringement incident in May last year, but it is exactly the same.

The same European site, the same trademark infringement malicious attack, at that time many sellers were tortured and their store sales were seriously affected. Finally, Amazon made an official statement. Amazon said that it confirmed that the complaint email was a malicious complaint and blocked it. The affected sellers also received a letter of misjudgment from Amazon soon.

Amazon has not yet made a statement on this incident, but a seller whose listing was removed said that he did not file an appeal after receiving the complaint, but the link automatically resumed sales. Another person said that his company also received the same complaint, but when he checked the listing, there was no such word. Just when he was about to appeal, Amazon automatically withdrew it. This proves that Amazon also realized that it had misjudged.

What if the sales are not automatically restored? Sellers who have been maliciously complained about "OIMG" many times said that by filing a complaint and explaining the situation to Amazon, the link can be restored quickly.

Such pranks happen frequently, making sellers very angry, and at the same time they are eager to find out the "mastermind" behind the scenes.

In this regard, some sellers made a "conspiracy theory": "I'm afraid it was the complaint service provider who poisoned the market?" It is still unknown whether the service provider is behind this, but through the "OIMG" trademark, we can follow the clues and dig out some information.

The rights holder was found to be from Fujian

Why did "Amazon Wuye" say that the prankster was Chinese? Because a seller found out through the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that the owner of the "OIMG" trademark is: Fujian Miling Technology Co., Ltd.

"Fujian Miling" is obviously Chinese pinyin. And "Fujian" is easily recognized as the Chinese character for "Fujian". Coincidentally, the trademark "closhion" mentioned above is also owned by a person from Fujian.

Through the company name and the address disclosed in the trademark registration documents, we quickly matched it to a company located in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province: Fujian Mi ※ Technology Co., Ltd.

According to Qichacha, the company was established in 2019 and its business scope includes application software development, information technology consulting services, big data services, cloud platform services, supply chain management services, enterprise management consulting services, etc. It also includes retail businesses such as textiles, clothing, shoes and hats, cosmetics, watches, glasses, auto parts, and lamps.

The registered capital is 10 million, the total assets are 1 million, and there are 2 shareholders. However, further investigation revealed that the company was very "clean". Not only did the social security information such as work-related injuries and pensions show 0 people, but no other affiliated companies could be found through the two shareholders, and there were no legal or operational risks.

It is also worth noting that in the "2019 Fujian Province Applicants Trademark Application Ranking (TOP100)" released by a certain intellectual property media, the company is listed and ranked relatively high, with 245 trademark applications, ranking 19th. It is listed together with the well-known Panpan Food (ranked first, with 758 trademark applications).

EUIPO shows that the "OIMG" trademark was applied for in August 2021 and successfully registered in November of the same year, with registration categories of 3, 9, 16, 20, 21, 25 and 28. Lipstick, toothpaste and other toiletries, mouse, headphones and other computer peripherals, staplers, notebooks, globes and other office supplies, curtains, mirrors, beds and other household items, fruit bowls, juicers and other kitchen utensils, swimming trunks, bathrobes, sandals and other footwear, building blocks, billiards, remote control cars and other toys and sports equipment, etc. are all on the list.

The company has also applied for the "OIMG" trademark in the U.S. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) shows that both "OIMG" trademarks in the U.S. are active.

Both trademarks were applied for in November 2021 and were successfully registered in April last year. However, one was registered in Class 2, Class 13, Class 23, Class 29, Class 30, Class 33, Class 40, and Class 50, while the other was registered in Class 22 and Class 39.

Therefore, although we have not received any feedback about sellers on the US site being maliciously attacked, the risk still exists.

Sellers are exhausted from dealing with this, when will the Chinese people stop making fun of this?

In the cross-border circle, it is not uncommon for sellers to be pranked. There are many different ways of pranking, including maliciously tampering with listings and then complaining about infringement, malicious negative reviews, tampering with brand names, changing the main picture to an unrelated product, threatening refunds after malicious orders, adding sensitive words, etc.

Such things force sellers who should focus on sales to spend time, energy, and even money to deal with them. Sellers are not only exhausted from dealing with them, but also tortured.

Earlier this month, a seller complained: "The brand was maliciously modified and I lost my editing rights."

As we all know, Amazon has always been strict in cracking down on violations, so it is difficult to deal with spoofs. The spoofers took advantage of this and did their best to make trouble.

A small number of sellers who have been pranked will fight back with the mentality of not wanting to get away with it, but in most cases they can only admit defeat and compromise.

Therefore, whenever sellers see this kind of prank, they are very angry. What makes them most angry is that after a lot of effort to find out, they often find that the people behind the prank are domestic peers.