Hot searches surged to 80,000, and a group of sellers followed suit and may fall into traps

May is coming to an end, but some sellers are still complaining to Entech.com: In the past, they would be busy preparing for Amazon Prime Day at this time, but this year they continue to sell goods at a loss.

“——Don’t say there are no orders, it’s just that you didn’t lower the price low enough;

——There are no unsaleable products , only unsaleable prices ;

——If you take off your underwear and start a price war , I don’t believe that sales will not move;

..."

It can be seen that although sellers are complaining about the "insidiousness" of price wars, in the increasingly fierce internal competition, everyone has to go from questioning to understanding and then to joining.

In addition, as internal competition intensifies and sellers "give up" profits in order to clear inventory and keep stores flowing , a group of sellers continue to face other obstacles, such as infringements leading to store closures and frozen funds.

Hot search terms rank over 80,000, it is easy to infringe

With the official start of summer, most markets around the world have entered the peak period of summer product sales.

Consumer demand for a range of products, including swimsuits, sunscreen, electric fans, and inflatable pools, is growing. Among them, Een.com has noticed that the search popularity of beach bags is rising.

A search using the keyword "beach bag" revealed that there were 41 related terms on Amazon's US site's hot search data website, and the search popularity of most of these terms was skyrocketing. The search popularity of "simple modern beach bag" increased the most, with the hot search rankings of the two similar terms rising by 81,746 and 57,891 respectively .

According to Google Trend, the global search popularity of "beach bag" has remained high over the past three months. It has also maintained a high search popularity in the United States. The popularity of this term has increased more significantly since April.

On Amazon, there are 60,000 listings for this product , and many of them have sold thousands of units in April. In the corresponding sub-category of the Amazon BS list, the third-ranked product even sold more than 9,000 units in April . Since its launch, this product has accumulated 1,000 reviews.   24195 pieces.

Among them, it seems that the market demand for mesh beach bags is also not low this year. According to Amazon's sales listings, there are 9,000 related listings on the platform. The hollow design can easily filter sand and water without missing important items. The entire product design is very light and is a portable item for European and American consumers on summer beach vacations.

But sellers need to be aware that this type of product has recently been sued for infringement, and the plaintiff is a Chinese seller.

On May 21, Shenzhen seller Chen   Zemiao commissioned Palmer Law Group to sue its mesh beach bag products, and the case was officially filed in the U.S. District Court with case number 24-cv-60863 .

According to documents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO), the product's appearance patent was actually applied for by a Shenzhen seller as early as July 7, 2021, but it was not approved until the end of March this year . The patent number is USD1019124S .

The patent for this product has just come into effect and is valid for 15 years.

There are 9,000 mesh beach bag products on sale on Amazon , many of which are similar in appearance to the products sold by the Shenzhen seller mentioned above. In April, a single listing of a similar product even achieved sales of more than 2,000 pieces.

In the " Beach Toys " category, the third-ranked product is a mesh beach bag. Last month, the listing sold more than 3,000 pieces and has received 11,438 reviews since it was put on the shelves. In addition, the product ranked 16th on the list is extremely similar in appearance to the product of the seller mentioned above (it is currently unclear whether they are the products of the same seller).

In short, if there are sellers selling products with similar appearance, they need to confirm and avoid risks as soon as possible to prevent them from being removed from the platform or even affecting the entire store.

Chinese sellers flock to sue, common products are "dangerous"

In addition to the mesh beach bag mentioned above, there have been a number of very common products in daily life that have been sued for infringement recently, and these cases are already in the acceptance stage.

1. JIGSAW PUZZLE TABLE

On May 21, the appearance patent infringement case entrusted to YK Law by Chinese seller CL HE was officially accepted by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois , with the case number 24-cv - 04193 .

The product involved in this case is a jigsaw puzzle table. There are a total of 1,000 listings of this type of product on Amazon, and the vast majority of listings are priced over $100. As a product with a medium to high unit price, its market performance is not bad.

Take one of the puzzle tables priced at $179.99 as an example, its sales in April exceeded 500 units. If we take the pure puzzle table without table legs as an example, many listings priced between $64.99 and $79.99 can achieve monthly sales of more than 2,000 units and as high as 3,000 units.

It can be seen that the market demand for this type of tabletop game products is good.

Information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows that the above-mentioned infringed puzzle table was applied for an appearance patent by William Huang, a seller in Nanchang, China as early as January 2020. The product patent was officially issued in December 2022 with the patent number USD972038S .

However, the plaintiff this time is not William Huang. In December 2023, William Huang transferred the patent to CL HE. As the current sole owner of the patent, CL HE sued for infringement this time .

2. WATER BAL L   water polo

This is a perennial bestseller in summer.

On Amazon, searching for the keyword "water ball" shows that there are 40,000 listings on the platform . With the arrival of summer, sales of such products on the platform have begun to increase, and many listings have achieved monthly sales of over 1,000 in April.

Take a single water polo product listing as an example. It is priced at $19.99, with sales exceeding 2,000 units in April. It has received more than 8,800 reviews since it was put on the shelves. It ranks first in the BS list of the "Swimming Pool Dive Toys" category on Amazon.com and ranks 31st in the BS list of the " Toys & Games " category.

In the BS list of the “ Toys & Games ” category, a water polo product ranked 4th. In April, the product listing sold more than 7,000 units, and the rating was as high as 4.8 stars, becoming an “Amazon’s Choice” product. Another water polo product ranked 19th on the list also sold more than 5,000 units in April .

Consumer demand is growing rapidly, but sellers should note that infringement cases are also occurring for this type of product, and the plaintiffs are still Chinese sellers.

On May 21, the design patent infringement case of Dongguan Saienchuangke Technology Co., Ltd., a Chinese seller, was officially filed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida . The plaintiff entrusted the Palmer Law Group, PA law firm, and the case number was 24-cv-60865 .

According to information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, this product is a patent applied for by a Dongguan company to the U.S. Patent Office in April 2021, but it was not until May 7 this year that the application was officially approved and took effect. The patent number is USD1026139S and the validity period is 15 years. In other words, the patent was caught in an infringement incident by the seller only half a month after it came into effect.

The plaintiff has not yet initiated a TRO motion, but it is expected to be filed within 1-2 weeks . Sellers of related products should make plans early.

In addition to the three different products mentioned above that are being sued for infringement, Chinese sellers have recently initiated cases of infringement of appearance patents for common daily necessities such as diving masks ( patent number USD838358S1 ) , desk lamps ( patent number USD985180S), chair foot covers ( patent number USD968939S), soap boxes (patent number USD968842S), and storage racks (patent number USD1019220S1) . Sellers should conduct self-inspections as early as possible and take precautions.

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