Recently , Amazon sellers are in an uproar again! Purple Innovation, LLC (yes, the brand famous for its purple color) filed an intellectual property protection lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida Federal District Court through its law firm. The case number is 24-cv-61536.

This lawsuit is not simple. It targets multiple Amazon China sellers, and the court has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) strictly prohibiting these sellers from continuing to sell suspected infringing products.

Purple trademark used as a weapon

Purple Innovation is a major seller of purple home products, with annual revenue approaching $500 million. Not only does they use "Purple" as their brand name, they also registered "Purple" as a trademark early on, specifically for the purpose of protecting their rights.

Moreover, the company has a number of appearance patents and has frequently used lawsuits to combat infringements in recent years. This year, Purple has launched four lawsuits to protect its rights, which have had a wide impact and affected many Amazon sellers.

What is most speechless to sellers is that the commonly used color word "Purple" has become a reason for prosecution! Purple Innovation claims that any use of this word in other trademark categories may constitute infringement.

Surprisingly, on Amazon alone, there are more than 100,000 results for products searched with the keyword “purple”! This means that a large number of listings are facing potential infringement risks.

In fact, similar infringement cases are not uncommon. As early as 2019, the word "USB" in the 3C field was registered as a trademark, resulting in a large number of sellers being convicted of infringement for using "USB" and ultimately suffering heavy losses.

The same thing happened to "pink". This common color word was also registered as a trademark. Sellers who used it in listings also faced the risk of product removal or even store closure.

The trend of trademarking such commonly used words is becoming more and more obvious. Whether it is a proper noun, an adjective or a color word, it may be registered as a trademark and become a minefield for infringement.

This "purple" incident once again sounded the alarm for all sellers: whether it is listing optimization or keyword selection, they must attach great importance to intellectual property issues and avoid stepping on infringement "minefields".

Infringement issues occur frequently, how should sellers respond?

In addition, sellers are advised to conduct comprehensive intellectual property searches to ensure that the products and related descriptions do not infringe on the rights of others.

If potential risks are discovered, the listing should be adjusted immediately or professional legal advisors should be consulted to prevent them from happening.

Summary: Intellectual property issues are becoming more and more complicated, especially in the context of cross-border e-commerce. If you are not careful, you may face the risk of huge compensation or having your store closed. Sellers must be vigilant and respond in a timely manner to minimize the possibility of "stepping on thunder"! I hope everyone can sell well in this Black Friday online shopping season! 🎯