The globally popular "Emoji" expressions are once again defending their rights, and 84,000 products are at risk!

People around the world may not use the same fonts, but they all have the same set of expressions, which is Emoji. Emoji originated in Japan and was first created by Shigetaka Kurita. Later, it was successfully added to the input system of iOS 5 by Apple, and then became popular in the global social circle.

In addition to playing a vital role in daily communication, Emoji expressions are also widely used in peripheral products. From T-shirts and hats to pillows and bags, these peripheral products are also very popular. However, it is these peripheral products that have caused trouble for sellers.

On January 25 and 26, 2021, Emoji brand EMOJI COMPANY GMBH entrusted the law firm HSP (Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd.) to defend its rights. Two cases were filed in a row. The reasons for the lawsuits were all intellectual property infringement, and the types of rights protection were both "trademark + copyright" . It can be expected that neither HSP nor the brand will stop there. This may just be the beginning.

The "emoji" trademark is registered by EMOJI COMPANY and has now become a global registered trademark. The brand has registered the trademark in more than 100 countries, covering 30 categories, including 05, 08, 10, 11, 12, 28, 31, 36, 41, 43 and other categories.

Ever since HSP Law Firm took over the Emoji brand last year , it has basically been "going crazy". From June to September last year alone, there were 16 rights protection cases. Thousands of sellers are facing the risk of being blocked and frozen, which has led to a large number of accounts on the DHgate and Wish platforms being frozen. Now, seven months have passed since the first case, and the number of cases has reached an astonishing 30!

Despite such a tragic lesson, there are still a large number of suspected infringing products and sellers on multiple platforms. Among them, the search results for the keyword "Emoji" on the eBay platform are as high as 84,000, and the products are all-encompassing, from pillows to stickers. If you are not careful, the sellers of these products may become the next party to the infringement case.

In addition to trademark infringement, copyright infringement involving related emoticons will also be targeted by law firms and brands. Copyright infringement is not like trademarks and patents. It has no category restrictions. No matter what the product is, as long as it is used without authorization, there will be a risk of infringement.

In fact, cartoon and animation image brands are very fond of using the "trademark + copyright" method of rights protection. Therefore, sellers of related peripheral products must be extremely vigilant and be careful of being targeted by brands. They must remove products from the shelves in a timely manner for rectification and withdraw funds regularly to avoid account freezes due to infringement, which would result in unbearable economic losses.

Infringement

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