Another American Standard scandal! 6,000+ sellers’ trademarks may be forcibly cancelled

Recently, many sellers have reported that another trademark agency has "collapsed" and 6,000+ American standards are about to be invalidated!

On December 13, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released the latest sanctions list, and more than 6,000 trademarks represented by a well-known trademark company in Xiamen will be subject to sanctions.

It is understood that the trademark documents involved this time are as long as 365 pages, and the trademark time ranges from 2014 to 2021. Among them, the trademarks from 2019 to 2021 are the majority .

(Some of the affected trademarks)

Many sellers were unfortunately affected, and the bankrupt company responded urgently!

If the company's trademark is sanctioned, many sellers may face consequences such as trademark invalidation and abnormal brand registration.

The editor found that many sellers in multiple channels reported that they were unfortunately affected and were seeking ways to avoid their stores being implicated . They have planned to form a rights protection group and work with other sellers to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests .

Some sellers said that they had finally managed to avoid being blocked and spoofed by their peers, but their brand was ruined ! At least 6 trademarks were affected, and they were in tears!

What’s even worse is that some sellers have been scammed for the second time. They were just cheated by a trademark agency in Shenzhen a few months ago, and they won the bid again this time. They can’t help but sigh that trademark agencies are full of scams.

However, some sellers reported that they also registered their trademarks through this agency, but the trademark was not on the list.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO) pointed out that the company violated the USPTO's trademark operating standards, including engaging in trademark affairs without authorization, misappropriating attorney information for trademark-related applications, intentionally providing false information when submitting trademarks to the USPTO , and abusing USPTO accounts and systems .

On December 14 , the company responded to the trademark "explosion incident" reported this time , saying that the more than 6,000 trademarks submitted by the company last year were included in the sanctions list by the US Patent and Trademark Office because the company had previously submitted a batch of "international brand trademarks" and was warned. The company did not switch the email address when applying for the email later, which caused the association, but it did not affect the registered trademarks. Sellers do not need to worry too much. The accusation of the Trademark Office this time is false, and the company is preparing evidence to respond.

It should be noted that many lawyers sanctioned by the Trademark Office previously earned commissions by registering trademarks in their names. After being sanctioned, they will provide all the details of their cooperation to the Trademark Office, and the Trademark Office will decide whether they can continue to work based on their attitude of admitting mistakes. Sellers must be careful to stay away from these sanctioned lawyers when registering trademarks.

It is understood that on April 20 this year, the USPTO continued to issue a penalty notice against Jonathan G. Morton, a lawyer who seriously violated US trademark law, the lawyer mentioned in this "Statement of Reasons Order" .

The lawyer failed to fulfill the obligations of an attorney and submitted a large number of trademark applications without considering the quality of the cases . According to statistics from the Trademark Office, since August 3, 2019, the lawyer has represented more than 32,000 trademarks (of which about 26,000 have been registered and 7,700 are pending) , and the lawyer has submitted more than 400 trademark applications in a single day more than once .

Since the USPTO has issued a penalty notice against attorney Jonathan G. Morton on April 20, 2022, the trademarks represented by this attorney in the trademark list involved in this statement order have already received notices of penalty or suspension .

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) listed the agency's fraudulent and illegal operations in the "Statement of Cause Order" and required the company to respond to multiple allegations of violating USPTO regulations before January 10, 2023. If the company does not respond to the violations within the prescribed time, it will face sanctions .

Next, we can only wait for subsequent developments, and sellers should still make preparations as early as possible.

How should Amazon sellers deal with frequent trademark failures?

At present, what many implicated sellers are most worried about is whether the expired trademark will cause "brand registration anomalies" .

Recently, the incident in which more than 8,000 brands of Chinese sellers were removed by Amazon is still a lingering fear in people’s minds. A large number of sellers have received “brand removal” emails from Amazon .

Amazon announced that the reason for removing the seller's brand was that the behavior of the brand or its representatives directly violated Amazon's Brand Registry policy.

However, industry insiders pointed out that the problematic trademarks that had previously been exposed were also an important reason why a large number of brands were removed this time.

If a trademark is exposed, how should sellers respond?

Whether it is a trademark explosion or a brand removal, the ultimate victims are cross-border sellers.

If a trademark fails, the seller still has the opportunity to file a complaint or defense with the Trademark Office through a licensed US attorney .

The seller 's registered trademark is still valid. Even if the trademark registration is eventually ruled invalid by the USPTO, the seller's trademark is still protected by US law and cannot be easily infringed by others. The USPTO will also give the trademark owner some time to contact a suitable US lawyer. The seller can provide evidence of trademark use and request a reexamination by the USPTO. The key to whether the trademark can be re-validated, or even whether the Amazon store can be restarted, lies in whether the seller can provide a solid "first use date" and "continuous use" evidence.

At the same time, buyers can also take three measures to minimize losses. First, they can keep the original brand registration and then re-apply to the US Trademark Office with the existing problematic trademark. Second, they can re-apply and register the trademark in a different category and add another trademark to the existing trademark category. Third, they can wait for the original brand registration to become invalid, then apply for a trademark with the same name and category, and then register it.

Compared with other countries, trademark requirements in the United States are very strict and maintenance costs are very high.

It is understood that US trademark registration needs to be submitted by a US lawyer, which leads many sellers to look for agency companies because they do not have the relevant resources.

In order to attract customers, many intellectual property companies adopt free or even ultra-low-cost trademark models, but they are unaware of the huge risks hidden behind them.

In September of this year , a trademark agency in Shenzhen collapsed , and more than 13,000 trademarks were implicated.

If there is a problem with the seller's trademark, the store will inevitably be affected . It is understood that the US Trademark Office's system and Amazon's brand registration are instantly connected. Once the Trademark Office determines that the trademark is invalid, Amazon will cancel the registration, and both the trademark and the store will be blacklisted by Amazon.

The registration time for the American standard takes about 8-10 months, which is a relatively long time span. Sellers must keep their eyes open when applying for trademarks and choose compliant and formal agencies . Never take risks for the sake of temporary cheapness.

American Standard

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