Recently, Amazon sellers have encountered another big pit!

Many brands that were originally active suddenly became ineffective, and the sellers’ accounts and sales were instantly hit hard. The reason turned out to be that the trademark did not complete the "5-6 year oath" on time, resulting in the trademark being judged invalid!

This wave of operations is hard to guard against, don’t wait until your brand is “kicked out” before you regret it!

What is the “5-6 Year Pledge”?

In short, 5 to 6 years after the trademark is registered, the seller needs to submit a trademark use commitment letter to the U.S. Trademark Office, which is called an "oath."

As long as you submit on time and provide sufficient evidence of trademark use, you can continue to retain the validity of the trademark and ensure that the brand is not infringed or copied.

But once this deadline is missed, the trademark will become invalid and the Amazon brand registration will be revoked!

Once it expires, the brand's protection function will be deprived, and copycats may use your trademarked products to list, causing a sharp drop in sales and a decline in account health. The consequences can be imagined!

Who is more likely to be infected?

The trademarks registered in 2019 and 2020 are about to enter the 5-6 year "declaration period".

If you are a seller who registered a trademark during these time periods, be sure to check yourself immediately!

It should be noted that although the Trademark Office has given a six-month grace period, additional fees must be paid during the grace period.

If you exceed the grace period, your trademark will have no protection at all! So, don’t wait until the last minute.

There are two ways to renew a trademark:

1. Submit a statement of use + evidence of use: The official fee is US$225. The seller needs to submit a detailed statement of use and attach evidence of actual use of the trademark, such as product images with the trademark, sales links, etc.

As long as you can prove that the trademark has been in use, it will be approved.

2. Submit a statement of use + evidence of use + a statement of incontestability: the official fee is US$425 in total.

This method provides more powerful protection for trademarks, preventing others from filing cancellation applications and ensuring the long-term validity of the trademark.

The requirement is that the trademark must be used continuously within five years of registration and no one else raises a dispute.

Documents required for taking the oath:

A signed declaration that the mark is still in use , detailing the use of the mark since registration;

Evidence of use, such as product images, packaging with the brand name, tags, labels, product pages, etc.

The evidence of use recognized by the US Trademark Office must be sufficient and should not be provided casually, otherwise failure in the review may result in additional fees.

What should sellers do?

2. Prepare the required evidence of use and ensure that the trademark has a record of continuous use during this period.

3. Submit the materials according to the prescribed steps to avoid additional fees or trademark invalidation due to incorrect filling or insufficient materials.

Finally, remind everyone:

Amazon's rules are constantly changing, and trademark crises like this one are part of that.

Sellers must always remain vigilant and ensure that trademark usage is compliant to avoid falling behind in this fierce e-commerce competition.

It is wise to prepare in advance and avoid risks!

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