Amazon was ordered to conduct a strict investigation, and domestic sellers were sued by their peers and had a hard time

US Congress orders targeting Amazon and other online platforms

On January 14, the Office of the United States Trade Representative released its 2020 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy, a report detailing which marketplaces are known for hosting a large number of counterfeit products.

The report noted that a large number of counterfeit goods were sold through Amazon's foreign domains , including in the UK , France , Germany and Italy .

Amazon has reportedly taken various measures over the years to crack down on counterfeit sellers . But even so, Amazon still lacks the ability to review and approve counterfeit products . The report pointed out that even for brands that participate in the platform 's brand protection program, its counterfeit procedures can be time-consuming and cumbersome.

Amazon 's battle against counterfeits

Amazon and its competitors have battled counterfeits for years, with fakes on Amazon being a particular concern for brands , sellers and lawmakers .

Over the past few years, Amazon has launched new initiatives aimed at combating counterfeit sellers. In March 2019, the company launched Project Zero, which uses machine learning to detect and remove suspected fakes. Last year, the platform piloted its live video verification program to remotely verify potential sellers and launched an international "Counterfeit Crime Unit" to combat fraudulent sellers .

However, while these policies protect consumers from counterfeit goods, they also cause trouble for sellers. Due to the imperfection of the policies, many sellers have been "shot down" innocently - their products have been removed from the shelves without reason, they have received infringement warning letters, and some have even had their accounts directly blocked.

Therefore, many sellers have raised questions: Can Amazon also provide protection to sellers?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides online sellers with protection from infringement claims as long as the platform can self-regulate goods sold through its marketplace, and there is debate about how effective these platforms are at self-regulating . But at this point, it ’s unclear whether the government is prepared to hold Amazon liable for products it sells through its platform .

Although Amazon has the advantages of its value proposition price , product selection and fast service , its competitiveness has continued to decline in recent years due to the proliferation of counterfeits and inadequate protection measures for sellers.

Kennedy said if Amazon can get its counterfeit problem under control, its competitive advantage over other online marketplaces would return .

Domestic sellers apply for rights protection, two products are at risk

In addition to dealing with the risk of being swept up by the Amazon platform, domestic sellers also need to avoid stepping on landmines from infringing products represented by various law firms.

Generally speaking, products involved in infringement originate from abroad, but recently, two products sold by domestic sellers have also begun to find foreign law firms to represent them in protecting their rights .

The two products are the Mini Keyboard and the Wireless Sports Headband.

It is reported that the patent applicants of these two brands belong to different domestic companies or individuals , but the law firm representing them is the same: DIRECTION IP LAW, and all of them are patent infringements, and the freeze has not yet begun.

The two products are mainly trademark infringement and appearance infringement. Mentioning Mini Keyboard and Wireless Sports Headband in the seller's details page or in the title is likely to be an infringement risk. And if the appearance of the product is highly similar to these two products, it will also be considered an infringement.

(Suspected infringing products)

It is worth noting that the complaint also mentioned that the defendant seller's use of the same pictures, similar slogans or the same design as the plaintiff would cause confusion to consumers and cause losses to the plaintiff. Therefore, when selling products, sellers must remember not to steal pictures or slogans.

At present, the two cases have not been frozen, so the list of defendants is not yet known. The law firm's evidence collection method is also unclear, but it is generally based on screenshots, and the standard of settlement funds is also unknown. Therefore, sellers related to the sale of these two products need to promptly check and remove products with infringement risks.

Amazon

Infringement

Domestic Sellers