Infringement cases of popular products occur frequently, and 399 stores are sued!

For a long time, there have been frequent cases of infringement of popular online products. Many sellers have been deeply harmed by infringement, including freezing of fund accounts, removal of listings, and high settlement fees. Sellers are troubled by this. For sellers who are sued for infringement, "How to avoid infringement? How to unfreeze accounts and protect their rights and interests in the shortest time after being sued?" is particularly important.

Infringement cases of popular internet products occur frequently, and many stores are sued!

Popular products seem to be going through the same cycle: becoming popular on the entire Internet - sellers receive thousands of orders a day - attracting a large number of sellers to enter the market - being sued for infringement issues... According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 3,000 cases of infringement in 2022, and each case involved more than a hundred sellers. It can be said that most sellers have encountered infringement issues.

Recently, many sellers have reported that they have received orders from law firms to investigate and collect evidence. Among the products under investigation, there are many new brands that have never been involved in cases before. This has made many sellers panic, fearing that they will be caught red-handed.

1. The Neck and Shoulder Relaxers design patent

The design patent protection was initiated by a domestic individual seller of a shoulder and neck massager. The product name is a shoulder and neck massager. The case number is 23-cv-00068 ; the case was filed on 2023/01/05 ; the plaintiff is ZONGSHUO ZHANG ; the agent is NI, WANG&MASSAND, PLLC . At present, the relevant information of the case is still hidden, and the list of defendants has not yet been announced. Sellers who sell the same shoulder and neck massager should be prepared to be sued, and the account is expected to be frozen for about one month.

2. Patent for the appearance of the cartoon owl pen grip corrector

3D pattern owl pen grip corrector appearance patent protection, an owl pen grip corrector that helps cultivate the correct pen grip posture. The brand owner sued for infringement in New York, USA, case number 22 -cv-10784 ; the case was filed on 2022/12/22 ; the plaintiff is HAI** MA ; the agent law firm is Rosenbaum Famularo & Segall PC . It mainly involves the US appearance patent, patent number USD944327S, and products that are highly similar to it have a great risk of infringement.

3. Ink & Rags Home Furnishings sued for trademark infringement

Ink & Rags trademark infringement, the U.S. trademark "Ink & Rags" has been used continuously and exclusively on online retail logo services and original artwork since January 2016. Ink & Rags initiated a trademark protection lawsuit against cross-border sellers , case number 22 -cv-7292 ; filing date 2022/12/28 ; plaintiff is Ink & Rags LLC ; agent law firm is Revision Legal, PLLC . Sellers should note that the original design trademarks used by the plaintiff, including models and marks, are not allowed to be used.

4. Trademark protection of Jawzrsize facial muscle exerciser

The Jawzrsize facial exerciser can drive the growth of the muscles of the neck and chin, making the facial lines more three-dimensional. It is a popular online product and has been subject to rights protection many times. This case is an anonymous case with the case number 22-cv-6876; the case was filed on 2022/12/7; the plaintiff is Jawzrsize, LLC; the agent is Saper Law Offices, LLC. Sellers should note that the plaintiff has applied for a US invention patent, and the same technical principles and patents are considered infringements. Do not use the related word trademark Jawzrsize in titles, product introductions, packaging, etc.

5. The Shark Slippers that Feel Like Stepping on Shit Infringes on Copyright

The popular online product, the shark slippers with a shit-like feel, quickly became a hit, with some sellers receiving thousands of orders a day. However, this product is copyrighted, and 399 merchants have been sued. The plaintiff is a seller from Urumqi, who mainly complained about the infringement of the shark slippers. The case number is 22-cv-6695; the case was filed on November 30, 2022; the plaintiff is Zhengbin Zhu; the agent is Keener And Associates, PC, and a TRO freeze has been initiated.

As for infringement cases, sellers can prevent them in advance, but it does not mean that infringement cases will not happen if sellers prevent them. Many infringements may be unintentional . However, some unscrupulous law firms abroad will not stop their scythes . The same products and the same patents will come back after a period of time , just like cutting leeks. After one wave is cut, there will be another wave.

Nearly 70% of sellers have been sued for infringement

Infringement has always been a big pitfall, and many sellers have repeatedly fallen into it. According to a survey conducted by Ennet, nearly 20% of cross-border sellers have encountered more than 5 infringement lawsuits since entering the industry, and nearly 70% of sellers have also encountered 1-5 infringement lawsuits.

The law firms representing the companies are mostly GBC, Keith, Keener, EPS, David, etc. They use crawler technology to search for evidence of suspected infringement by sellers, then pretend to place orders to obtain relevant evidence, and then file large-scale lawsuits against these sellers.

Every time these law firms take action, hundreds of stores will suffer. Based on the psychology of many clients who want to settle as soon as possible, unfreeze funds, and make the accounts start to operate normally, their purpose is also very "simple". They don't want to sue, but only want settlement money, ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 US dollars. With this series of operations, these law firms can make considerable profits every year. Take GBC Law Firm as an example. Its revenue in 2022 is nearly 1 billion US dollars (equivalent to about 6.4 billion yuan), which has exceeded the revenue of many domestic big sellers.

But for sellers, "Who to find for settlement? How to settle quickly? How to minimize the settlement amount? " is also a big problem.

Generally speaking, many sellers who negotiate for infringement settlements actually do not have lawyers, and they do not even have foreign attorneys. They will go directly to the plaintiff's lawyer to talk, but the other party generally only accepts negotiations with the intervention of lawyers and will not talk directly with the parties. Even if they respond, they will ask for a high settlement amount, or even worse, the other party will simply disappear. In addition, many sellers will reveal key handles and loopholes in the case during communication because they do not understand the law, which will be caught by the other party's lawyers and ultimately lead to serious consequences.

Even if you find a local lawyer to handle the case, there are still many limitations in handling the case. Most foreign lawyers only want to negotiate a settlement and be done with it. As for the settlement amount and the subsequent process of signing the settlement agreement, they are full of uncertainty.

In addition, there is a chaos in the industry. Many service providers do infringement settlement business, but there are no lawyers involved in handling the cases, and no lawyers analyze the cases. They just send an email and if the other party says they want to settle, then they will settle. If they can't settle, it doesn't matter. They don't really care about the needs of the sellers, and they can't respond to the lawsuit.

Therefore, for many sellers, it is particularly important to find a professional lawyer, analyze the case, and then handle the case step by step according to the lawyer's advice. Especially for those law firms that have cooperative law firms abroad, they have completed the evaluation and screening of American law firms and corresponding lawyers, and are relatively more reliable. Secondly, with the intervention of lawyers, the other party will be more cautious. If the amount involved is small, or the other party's lawyer's materials are not sufficient, they generally will not choose to respond to the lawsuit, and will settle as soon as possible, so that the period of fund unfreezing is shorter, and the seller can also resume the operation of the store faster.

In order to help sellers solve such problems, Ennews has specially invited professional legal advisors to help everyone with relevant consultation. You can add WeChat ennews8889 to discuss and solve infringement cases with professionals.

Amazon

Infringement

Hot sale