What is Amazon's new UPNEP program? Amazon's new UPNEP program review

About the UPNEP Program

I believe many Amazon sellers have heard of the UPNEP program. The project began testing as early as 2018, claiming that it will be used to help infringed sellers quickly handle infringement lawsuits in the future.

UPNEP Assessment Procedure

UPNEP is a program hired by Amazon to hire qualified US patent firms (neutral evaluators) to evaluate and analyze patent infringement disputes on the platform. If the neutral evaluator believes that the product involved falls within the scope of patent protection of the complaining party, the product will be removed from the shelves. Otherwise, the product involved will continue to be sold. This program will help infringed sellers to quickly deal with infringements. The patent holder in the litigation can confirm whether up to 50 products from different suppliers infringe their patents through one action (submitting a complaint).

How the UPNEP Program Works

1. Starting stage:

In actual operation, Amazon will provide an Amazon Utility Patent Neutral Evaluation Agreement to the initiator of the complaint who is suitable for using this procedure, based on the alleged infringement complaint in the case itself. In this agreement, the complaining party will be required to fill in the ASIN number of the product involved, the patent number involved, and the platform seller suspected of infringement (can be more than one). Based on the information provided in the agreement, Amazon will send notifications to the corresponding sellers involved.

2. Payment stage:

The fee for participating in the evaluation is $4,000. Amazon will require the patent owner and the relevant sellers to remit the fee to a designated account within two weeks, and the party that fails in the re-evaluation will ultimately bear the cost. Amazon officially set up this clause to combat malicious complaints by patent owners to a certain extent, and also weaken the defendant's lack of confidence in the defense of non-infringement, thereby improving the efficiency of the procedure.

UPNEP Program Advantages

The patent neutrality evaluation procedure is more rigorous, standardized, and powerful. Compared with directly suing a US law firm for infringement, the operation of this system is obviously more convenient and faster, and the protection of rights is more efficient and powerful.

1. The person being complained about will not dare to fight back unless he has full confidence and can only delete the product.

2. You can accuse multiple infringing sellers through a single file. You can strike a group of infringers at one time, delete their products, reduce malicious competition, and it is very efficient, and sales can be greatly increased.

3. Generally speaking, if the patent right holder takes the case through the federal court or other litigation, it will take a long time, and may not be completed for several years, and it will cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive and financially intensive. The Amazon patent neutrality evaluation process will take no more than 4 months and only requires a payment of $4,000.

Development and Change

Old UPNEP program: Allows patent sellers to file complaints against infringing sellers

New UPNEP plan: Allowing sellers who have been complained to launch a defense

The enhanced UPNEP program allows sellers who want to defend themselves to pay $4,000 for an evaluation, and Amazon will hand the case over to a neutral evaluator. The evaluator will study the value of the claim and defense and make a ruling if the appeal is supported. If the seller who defends themselves wins, they can get their $4,000 back and continue to sell their products on Amazon. If the complainant wins, they get their $4,000 back, and the products of the sellers complained against will be removed from Amazon. The evaluator gets $4,000 from the loser, and there is no process for appealing or reconsidering the decision.

References

• 1. Turnaround! Amazon's new UPNEP plan allows sellers who have been complained to launch a defense: Sohu [cited date 2020-02-15T16:00:00.000Z]