Patents for "popular products" are being issued in large numbers, and some sellers are about to step on the landmine

The first wave of cross-border e-commerce infringement cases in 2024 is coming. At the same time, Yien.com also found that a bunch of "common" products have been applied for patents and have come into effect in recent days. The categories cover hot-selling mass products such as home furnishings, pet supplies, and hair accessories.

Monthly sales of a single listing of over 40,000, "popular" products have the risk of infringement

On January 3, the Northern District Court of Illinois officially filed a case against the Dutch company Dispensing Technologies BV for infringement of the appearance patent for its spray bottle . The case number is 24-cv-00085 , and the plaintiff's law firm is the well-known "rogue law firm " GBC .

Mainly engaged in liquid packaging , the products of Dispensing Technologies BV are widely used in home care , personal care , food and beverage and other fields. As one of the first companies in Europe to obtain a license to produce trigger sprayers , Dispensing Technologies BV 's products have always been well recognized by consumers .

The product involved in this case is a product of Flairosol , a brand that specializes in spray devices . It is understood that the Flairosol spray bottle can evenly spray liquid into a fine mist, which is suitable for hair, skin and facial care, cleaning and disinfection, and can even be used as an oil spray bottle.

It can be seen on Amazon that Flairosol also has good market performance. A single product can achieve monthly sales of more than 2,000 pieces, with nearly 4,000 reviews, and is even marked as an "Overall Pick" product by Amazon.

If you search for "Spray bottle" on Amazon, you will find that there are 6,000 listings for this product segment. Due to its wide range of application scenarios, such as personal care, home kitchen, garden maintenance, etc., the market demand for this single product is extremely high. In addition, the unit price of the product is relatively low, ranging from US$3 to US$20, so the purchasing demand will not be affected by consumption downgrade.

From the above figure, we can conclude that the sales performance of spray bottle products on Amazon can be said to be excellent. There are tens of thousands of reviews, ranging from 10,000 to nearly 100,000. The monthly sales are better than most categories. Most listings are in thousands, and the highest one can sell more than 40,000 pieces in December 2023.

Taking the BS list data of the Amazon subcategory of spray bottles as an example, the TOP1 product on the list is a spray bottle used for hair styling, plant care and other scenarios. It is priced at only US$7.99 and sold more than 20,000 pieces last month. Since it was put on the shelves, it has accumulated 42,492 reviews and a rating of 4.4 stars .

The spray bottle product ranked second on the list sold more than 40,000 units in December last year alone. After it was put on the shelves, the number of reviews left has reached 99,505 , with a rating of 4.6 stars and a price of only US$5.49.

With a wide range of application scenarios and a low unit price , this product has high consumer demand in daily life, so it can attract a large number of sellers to join in the sales. However, even such an inconspicuous "common street" product is protected by patents.

For example, in the case of the infringement of the appearance patent sued by Dispensing Technologies BV this time , according to the patent certification, the U.S. appearance patent owned by its product in question was applied for on December 23, 2013 , but it took five years before it was officially issued on October 9, 2018. The patent number is USD830194S . The patent is still valid and will take effect until October 9, 2032.

At present, the plaintiff has not filed a TRO with the court , but it is estimated that it will file a TRO application with the court in two weeks . At that time, a group of sellers may have their products removed from the shelves or their accounts frozen. Sellers selling similar products should quickly check themselves to avoid suffering the first wave of "infringement losses" in 2024.

A number of common product patents have been issued one after another, and sellers are doing a good job of circumventing them

In addition to the above-mentioned spray bottle products, several patent infringement cases also occurred in the beginning of 2024, such as the infringement of the copyright of the tattoo pattern of British illustrator and tattoo artist Libby Piechowicz . It is reported that Libby Piechowicz has been engaged in the tattoo industry for more than 10 years. She will share original hand-painted patterns on social platforms on a daily basis and sell peripheral products such as cross-stitch, plates, and clothing.

On January 2, the infringement case was officially filed by the Northern District Court of Illinois, United States, with the case number 24-cv-00049 , and the attorney is also a familiar face - Keith . At present , the case is still in the hidden stage, and the specific copyright involved is unknown, but according to inquiries, Libby Piechowicz has two copyrights in her name that were certified in 2018 : "Black Cat (VA0002368862)" and "Original Bumble Bee (VA0002368850)".

In addition to the cases that have already occurred, sellers still need to do a good job of avoiding infringement in advance in the new year, especially when preparing new products, and conduct sufficient research on the market and products.

Recently, the US Patent Office announced a batch of newly issued product patents, many of which are owned by Chinese sellers. E-net also found that these products are very common on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, and many sellers are selling them. Please pay attention to the following:

1. Waterproof pouch : Application was made on June 21, 2021, and the patent was issued on January 2, 2024. The patent number is USD1009474S.

On Amazon, there are 40,000 listings for waterproof bags, with prices ranging from US$5 to US$40. Some listings have monthly sales of more than 4,000 units and more than 13,000 reviews.

2. Ice box : applied for on April 17, 2023, issued on January 2, 2024, patent number is USD1009953S.

There are 5,000 listings for sale on Amazon , with a single popular listing selling more than 5,000 units per month and receiving 27,714 reviews .

3. Lunch Box : Applied on August 15, 2023, issued on January 2, 2024, patent number is USD1009573S.

There are 20,000 listings on Amazon , some of which have monthly sales of over 10,000 units, and many of which have monthly sales of over 5,000 units.

4. Tool box : applied for on December 6, 2022, issued on January 2, 2024, patent number is USD1009475S.

Amazon has 30,000 listings for sale. In the BS list of this sub-category, the top product has a monthly sales volume of over 7,000 units, 35,171 product reviews, and a rating of 4.7 stars. There are also many listings with monthly sales of thousands.

5. Pet toy : applied for on June 26, 2023, issued on January 2, 2024, patent number is USD1010246S.

20,000 pet toy listings are sold on Amazon, with a single listing selling over 30,000 units per month and 92,498 reviews . This shows that the pet economy is still profitable. The U.S. Patent Office also shows that four pet toy patents were issued on January 2 this year alone .

6. Floor mat ：Applied on July 29, 2021, issued on January 2, 2024, patent number is USD1009514S.

This is an even more common product. There are 80,000 listings of floor mats for sale on Amazon , and most listings have monthly sales of tens of thousands, and there are many listings with over 100,000 reviews.

In addition to the common popular products listed above, products such as spinning tops, fans, jewelry stands , dumbbells, hairpins, toothbrush holders, thermometers, inflatable swimming pools, and electric fly swatters have the latest patents issued.

The above are all daily necessities that are hot-selling on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, and there are quite a few sellers selling them. Recently, the U.S. Patent Office is announcing the latest certification information. Sellers must always pay attention, do a good job of inquiries, and avoid pitfalls.

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