Many sellers have been sued. Be careful when selling these popular Amazon products...

Stress-relieving toys dominate Amazon's screen, but copyright infringement risks continue

A mobile phone case with decompression elements sold 160,000 pieces in 15 days after it was put on the shelves , with sales of more than 1.7 million US dollars , which is an excellent performance. Recently, decompression toys are gaining momentum, from dominating the screens of Amazon Europe and the United States to a 514% increase in GMV on Dunhuang.com . On Amazon UAE, Push pop bubble squeeze dominates the toy best-selling list, and sellers of this type have achieved fruitful results.

In addition to the enviable soaring sales, all kinds of decompression toys are also at great risk of infringement. For example, the following model sold hundreds of units on Amazon shortly after it was launched. It is a small key ring that costs nearly $10. There are two pressed silicone "bubbles" on the key ring , which can be used to hang on keys, handbags, canvas backpacks, school bags and belt loops. It is very light to put in your pocket, but someone has already registered it as an appearance trademark.

The trend of decompression toys comes from Rat Extermination Pioneer. Recently, many sellers have received infringement complaints from the agency of Foxmind (the toy company of Rat Extermination Pioneer) . The round and square product shapes of Rat Extermination Pioneer have been applied for trademarks in October 2020 and are still under review, so round and square products are at risk of infringement.

If you want to sell stress relief toys, you should also pay attention to the keywords on the listing. For example, Foxmind has already applied for the trademarks of "LASTMOUSE LOST" and "POPIT!", so LASTMOUSE LOST must not be mentioned.

Common words like POP should also be used with caution. A search at the U.S. Trademark Office found that keywords related to GO POP and POPIT have also been registered as trademarks. Descriptive words like bubble should also be used with caution as they have also been registered as trademarks.

As can be seen from the figure below, several similar words related to "GO POP" have been registered.

A Chinese company sued a Chinese seller? Many stores have been affected

Candles are more commonly used by foreigners to create atmosphere and relieve fatigue. The demand for candles has increased by about 30% after the outbreak of the epidemic. Wick Centering Devices are also selling well. Many sellers have followed this trend. When searching for the keyword "Wick Centering Device" on Amazon, 234 results appeared, and there were quite high search volumes on AliExpress and eBay.

This wick holder is made of stainless steel and can be placed in the center of the wick. It is highly adaptable and can be used in candle containers of different sizes. It is also very suitable for DIY candles . Moreover, because the accessory is small and light, but it is very useful, many foreigners also need it.

However, because of this wax core fixer, sellers on multiple platforms were sued by Wick Centering Device. The plaintiff company was Sicheng Xing, which was protecting its appearance patent. The lawsuit was filed on January 25 and the freeze date was April 2.

Some sellers said that the Guangdong company that owns the product trademark patent has started to sue Chinese sellers, and there are about 10 defendants . At the same time as the lawsuit, the plaintiff also sent an internal letter to Amazon sellers to notify them of infringement, and some Amazon sellers were also frozen. Sellers should check themselves quickly. If it involves related appearance, they need to be removed from the shelves as soon as possible. It is not yet known whether it also involves word trademarks.

Some sellers also said that this company was squatting on the trademark and was now targeting fellow sellers. The targeted sellers said they would fight back. Many sellers are very disgusted with the act of squatting on the trademark and hope that the victimized sellers can respond collectively to the lawsuit to reduce losses.

4 in 1 inflatable swimming pool float

As time enters mid-April, the temperature in the northern hemisphere is slowly rising, and summer is coming. In the hot summer, the best-selling products are cooling products.

Swimming pools are a great place to cool down in the summer, and their peripheral products will also usher in a wave of hot sales. Among the hot-selling peripherals of swimming pools in summer, floating beds have always been one of the star products every year.

But the editor here needs to remind all sellers that this type of product has hidden infringement pitfalls.

On Amazon US, a very popular inflatable swimming pool float has a related patent.

This is a 4-in-1 inflatable pool float, which ranks first in the best-selling ranking of the "Pool Rafts & Inflatable Ride-ons" category. It has a buyer rating of 4.5 stars and 9,048 reviews. This is enough to show its sales and popularity.

And from the comments, we can see that the purchases have already begun before the summer. An American buyer commented in January this year : "We bought two floating beds specifically for our vacation to Mexico. Overall, these are absolutely perfect and I would highly recommend them."

However, sellers who are envious of this sales volume and want to sell similar products should be careful, as this is a product with a structural invention patent. If the seller simply changes the appearance, there is a risk of patent infringement. The patent was authorized in 2017 and the protection period is 20 years. Therefore, during this period, as long as the same structural design is used, even if the appearance is different, it is considered an infringement.

Therefore, sellers who are preparing to sell or have already put their products on the shelves must take precautions against patent infringement, because infringement is no small matter, and once it is violated, the seller’s store can easily be closed and the account funds frozen.

Detangling Comb

Recently, a hot word has attracted much attention, that is, "her economy". Today, women's purchasing power and consumption power cannot be underestimated.

Women are born with a love for beauty, and they take extra care of their hair. Combing hair is like washing your face, and it is something they need to spend time and energy on every day. At this time, a handy comb is essential.

Last year, a detangling comb became popular. It is very suitable for Africans and African Americans with curly hair. It is said that the comb can unclog tangled hair without damaging the scalp, and can also massage the head to promote blood circulation. It is very popular on Amazon and is a best-seller.

On Amazon US, this comb not only ranks 16th in the best-selling ranking of the "Hair Brushes" category, but also has received 16,830 reviews.

A Canadian buyer commented: "We have tried many brushes for my half Canadian/Nigerian daughter's hair and this is by far the best!"

A US buyer also commented: "My daughter and I have super curly hair. We used it last night and it worked great! Another thing I like is that it's plastic so I can clean it easily and it's bendable. Highly recommend!!!"

But there must be something fishy about a hit product. The editor learned that this still very popular product also has the risk of infringement.

Through a query at the United States Patent Office ( USPTO), the editor found that the product had obtained a design patent authorization in the United States in 2020.

Therefore, if other sellers want to sell related products, they must be careful to avoid the appearance, otherwise they will step on the landmine.