Amazon sellers beware! Another popular product name has been registered as a trademark

( Image source: Trademark Office official website )

Although the certificate has not been issued yet, some sellers have spoken out: Our air fryer listing has been removed from the shelves, and we were told the reason was trademark infringement.

Seeing this, not only the sellers, but also the editor can’t sit still! Such vicious competition is not only very harmful to Amazon sellers, but also makes the customer experience very bad.

Not long ago, a seller also said that his trademark was preemptively registered by the Japanese company WES Co., Ltd. Thinking that the epidemic situation was serious, he wanted to switch markets to open up new markets, but he didn't expect that the road to gold rush had ended before it even began.

A quick check revealed that it was a habitual trademark squatter. A seller found out that from September to December 2019, the company expedited the registration of a large number of Japanese trademarks of Chinese cross-border sellers, as many as 30. These sellers have one thing in common: almost all of them have registered trademarks in Europe and the United States, but not in Japan. It is obvious that they are malicious squatters.

( Photo source: Know Nothing)

There are also sellers who are driven crazy by being pranked by their peers. It is said that whenever a seller launches a new product and the sales volume is good, the peer will immediately register the trademark of the product in advance, and then complain about the seller's infringement. Every time, the complaint is filed against the seller within less than a month of the trademark application registration, which makes the seller "very angry". The seller threatened, "I will bankrupt him this time! I have no shortage of money, I just want to vent my anger."!

( Photo source: Know Nothing)

They even issued a counterattack slogan on the forum, "Either you die or I die." It seems that they were forced to do so.

Many sellers are "latecomers" and fail to make good trademark arrangements in advance. Unexpectedly, their trademarks are registered by others, which affects the store operations and the products are taken off the shelves and cannot be sold. So what can we do?

1. Spend money to "redeem" the trademark that was preemptively registered

Most squatters aim to make a profit, or even do it intentionally, maliciously squatting and then asking the seller for a huge "ransom". It is true that you can redeem it by paying money, and there is still a chance to get it back, but it is a huge loss for the seller.

2. Abandoning trademarks and markets

Having a trademark means you have a say, and you can protect your legal rights. If a seller continues to sell a trademark after it has been preemptively registered, the platform will force the seller to remove the product from the shelves, forcing them to exit the market.

3. Protect your rights

If the brand you operate has a certain influence or is of great significance to your business operations and you do not want to give it up easily, you can file a lawsuit with the Trademark Trial and Reconsideration Board (TTAB) to apply for the cancellation/invalidation of the trademark.

1. How to search for trademarks

First, open the official website of the Trademark Office, taking the United States as an example, http://tmsearch.uspto.gov, and select Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).

( Image source: Screenshot of the Trademark Office’s official website)

Then, enter the trademark name you want to search in the search term.

( Image source: Screenshot of the Trademark Office’s official website)

Click submit Query to see all registered trademarks under the search conditions.

( Image source: Screenshot of the Trademark Office’s official website)

Click on any trademark to see a series of information including the registration category, right holder information, registered address, etc.

(Image source: Screenshot of the Trademark Office’s official website)

2. How to prevent problems before they happen

1. Strengthen trademark testing

Before entering a new market, sellers should pay attention to the trademark application announcement of that country in advance. If they find any preemptive registration, they should file an objection or lawsuit in time. It will be very troublesome to deal with it after the registration has fermented.

2. Register your trademark as soon as possible

Trademark registration is strictly territorial and is only protected in the place of registration. That is to say, if you register a trademark in China, it will not be protected by law in the United States. Therefore, sellers need to register overseas trademarks as soon as possible to protect their own interests.

3. Conduct defensive registration

Trademark protection is divided into categories. You can make defensive registrations in possible or impossible categories around the category and make good trademark layout to avoid being sued for infringement later. Many sellers have already started full-category layout when registering their own brands.

If trademarks are a small matter, then the removal of products from the shelves and the loss of market share is a big deal! Once someone else preemptively registers a trademark, the seller will suffer huge losses.