Amazon and the brand jointly filed a lawsuit, and more than 20 Chinese sellers were sued!

For sellers, infringement is no small matter, because once it is violated, the link may be removed at best, or the account may be blocked and the funds may be frozen at worst.

Amazon has been making every effort to crack down on infringing sellers. Recently, it has taken action again, and this time it is working with the brand. In addition, the previously popular Rat Extermination Pioneer was exposed for text trademark infringement in addition to graphic trademark infringement.

More than 20 Chinese sellers sued for infringing Champion trademark

Recently , Amazon and HanesBrands, an American underwear and sportswear manufacturer, jointly filed 13 lawsuits against more than 20 Chinese sellers , accusing them of illegally using the Champion trademark registered by HanesBrands when selling silicone protective earphone covers.

The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, allege that the defendants used HanesBrands ’ registered Champion trademark without authorization to deceive customers about the authenticity and origin of their products and to create a false affiliation with HanesBrands.

Now the accounts of these sellers have been closed by Amazon.

The case numbers are as follows :

Case: 2:21-cv-00766, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00767, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00768, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00769, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00770, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00771, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00772, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00773, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00774, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00775, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00776, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00777, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Case: 2:21-cv-00778, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

"We will vigorously defend our brands and intellectual property around the world," said Jon Ram, president of global sportswear at HanesBrands.

Hanesbrands Inc. is a well - known clothing manufacturer and distributor in the Americas, Europe, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region , and is also the largest underwear manufacturer in the United States .

The second largest brand is the well-known sports brand Champion . For nearly 100 years, the Champion brand has been synonymous with high-quality uniforms and clothing for amateur and professional athletes, as well as popular sportswear and casual wear for children and adults.

In addition to Champion , Hanesbrands brands include: Hanes, Bonds, DIM, Bali, Maidenform, Playtex, Bras N Things, Nur Die/Nur Der, JMS/Just My Size, Wonderbra, Lovable, Alternative, Berlei, L'eggs and Gear for Sports.

Pop it was registered as a trademark, and the seller was blocked before he could make a single order

If we were to ask what product is the hottest this year, the stress-relieving toy Last Mouse Lost would definitely be on the list.

But the seller also said : "Products that are extremely popular are bound to infringe copyright." This product is no exception.

At first, foxmind, the brand owner of Rat Extermination Pioneer, only submitted a graphic trademark application including circles and squares in the United States.

Therefore, sellers avoid these two shapes and put various different shapes of rat extermination and decompression products on the shelves, including mobile phone cases, dragonflies, butterflies and various animals, as well as various shapes such as hearts and squares.

However, some industry insiders recently said that Rat Extermination Pioneer has been targeted by law firms. In addition, sellers on Amazon and DHgate have been sued and their accounts have been blocked.

What's going on?

It turns out that pop it was registered as a trademark.

Not only that, Pop It registered 28 categories, including Baby toys; action skill games; toys; fidget toys; educational games for children; parlor games; card games; board games.

Therefore, as long as the products sold by sellers in these categories are stress-relieving toys, it does not matter if the title says "pop it" or "for pop it".

In addition, the editor found through a query at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that all of pop it's peripheral trademarks are still in existence, so sellers who want to rewrite them, such as pop-it, pop it now, pop its, etc., are at risk of infringement.

In addition to pop it, go bong, fingure it, and last mouse lost also need attention.

The dwarf ornaments infringe copyright, please remove them from the shelves

Recently, a seller said that a garden gnome-like ornament is extremely prone to infringement on Amazon's US site.

It is reported that this product suddenly became popular last Christmas, and sellers reported that the screen was full of such products at that time. Relevant information shows that its original creator is Bella Haus (official website: https://bellahausdesign.com/ ).

From its official website, the editor learned that Bella Haus attaches great importance to original design. In the introduction to About us, Bella Haus stated that as a small business, they create all their products themselves to ensure that buyers are provided with unique original designs. Their mission is to help buyers highlight your home with original, bold and interesting home and garden decorations.

The editor searched for Gnome on Amazon and found that there were more than 5,000 results on the US site alone. It would be a tragedy if Bella Haus Design complained about copyright infringement.

The editor found through browsing that most of these products are priced at $30 to $40, and the reviews are pretty good. A buyer from the United States excitedly said: "My garden looks great! These gnomes are perfect. A great gift."

However, although the market is good, sellers still need to pay attention to infringement issues. Especially now that some sellers have started preparing products for Christmas and Halloween, they should be more careful when encountering such products.

Amazon partners with five major brands to crack down on infringing sellers

Amazon has been cracking down on infringing sellers and counterfeit products on its platform and has invested more than $700 million and hired more than 10,000 people to actively protect stores from bad actors and bad products.

At the same time, it also uses industry-leading tools to verify the identity of potential sellers, using proprietary systems to analyze hundreds of unique data points to verify the information provided by potential sellers. Amazon said that in 2020, only 6% of new sellers passed its strong verification process and listed products when registering an account . As a result, less than 0.01% of all products sold on Amazon received counterfeit complaints from customers.

In June 2020, Amazon announced the establishment of the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Team, a new department dedicated to combating counterfeiters who violate laws and regulations and Amazon Marketplace rules and sell counterfeit goods on Amazon and bringing them to justice. This global, cross-functional team is composed of former U.S. federal prosecutors, senior investigators, and data analysts.

Amazon has since filed a series of lawsuits against counterfeiters, including against individuals who use social media to promote counterfeit goods, as well as joint lawsuits with Italian luxury brands Valentino and Ferragamo, cosmetics brand KF Beauty, family travel accessories brand JL Childress, cooler maker YETI, and family-run card game company Dutch Blitz.

Trademark Infringement