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Infringement is something that Amazon absolutely does not allow. Amazon has never been lenient with infringement, and the number of sellers whose accounts and funds have been frozen due to infringement is countless. Although Amazon does not allow sellers to infringe, it has slapped itself in the face and brought trouble upon itself . Recently, Amazon was accused of infringement. Only the governor is allowed to set fire Peak Design recently publicly complained that a $21 backpack sold by Amazon is highly similar to its own $100 Everyday Sling Bag . ▲ Picture taken from Peak Design’s complaint video A spokesperson for Peak Design said, “ Amazon has been selling products on its platform that have similar functional designs to Peak Design but at lower prices. Amazon’s attempt to use low prices to squeeze third-party sellers is despicable . This behavior is not only aimed at Peak Design, but also at many third-party sellers on the Amazon platform who have also been maliciously competed with by Amazon. This practice will cause sellers to ignore the uniqueness of the product design.” In response, Peak Design produced a video titled "A Tale of Two Slings: Peak Design and Amazon Basics" to mock Amazon's practice of copying third-party designs . ▲ Picture taken from Peak Design’s complaint video After the video was released, negative reviews from Peak Design users flooded Amazon’s Amazon Basic Everyday Sling, causing Amazon to temporarily disable reviews for the product. Peak Design also said, "We could have taken Amazon to court directly, but we chose to use the video to accuse Amazon of infringement, just to remind Amazon not to do it again. If Amazon does not make any changes in the future, Peak Design will take Amazon to court." In response to Amazon being accused of infringement, sellers also expressed their views: Seller A: "My best-selling product has been copied and sold by Amazon itself, and it has infringed my design patent. But my information is in the hands of others, and they have studied it thoroughly. How can I compete with them? What's more, this is their territory."
Seller B: "Why do sellers need to provide all kinds of information, while Amazon can infringe on the rights and copy sell products without thinking! Amazon is too hypocritical, acting as both a contestant and a referee! Amazon is definitely not honest. It has collected data from so many of our sellers and will definitely use this information to make a profit!"
Seller C: "I feel that in the future all products on Amazon will be self-operated. Now Amazon just needs data, so it has not occupied all categories. When Amazon has occupied all categories, I think the days of settled sellers will be over, and small fish and shrimp like us will have no way to survive." Sellers are not only angry and helpless about Amazon's infringement, but also mentioned another problem: Amazon uses the data of third-party sellers to make profits for itself . Abuse of third-party data for profit In this Amazon infringement incident, Peak Design pointed out that Amazon is suspected of abusing third-party data for profit . “I’m sure some buyers who see the Peak Design Everyday Sling will also notice the Amazon product next to it because Amazon places a lot of ads around our products,” said Peak Design’s CEO. “ Amazon is different from other retailers because it is able to collect detailed historical data from activity across the platform and use that data to play to the advantage of its own brands. ” According to Peak Design’s CEO, Amazon is able to view statistics about customers who like, have purchased, searched for, or clicked on products like Peak Design Everyday Sling so that Amazon can offer services to its own brand next time. And Peak Design's suspicion is not unfounded. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Amazon uses product information from third-party sellers on its website to create its own competing products , even though this violates Amazon's policies. According to US media reports, Amazon describes third-party sellers as partners externally, but internal documents show that the company secretly refers to them as internal competitors . Amazon has the dual roles of a third-party platform and seller, which is fundamentally in conflict of interest . This conflict will tempt Amazon to use its access to third-party information and data, as well as other anti-competitive means to defeat its competitors. In July last year, Amazon CEO Bezos faced questioning at a U.S. federal antitrust hearing and said there was no guarantee that Amazon did not use proprietary data to compete with third-party sellers . It seems that Amazon's infringement this time is likely to cause trouble. The European Union is currently conducting an antitrust investigation into Amazon to assess whether Amazon abuses third-party sellers' data for its own profit. As the US antitrust investigation continues, Amazon has become the next target of supervisory agencies, multi-state attorneys general and legislators. According to the US Federal Antitrust Commission, Amazon promotes its own products in search and website positions, which is a monopolistic behavior. If Amazon is proven to have engaged in monopolistic behavior, it will face sky-high fines from the European Union and the US federal government. What do sellers think about Amazon’s infringement and abuse of third-party data? Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts~ Statement: The title and original text of this article shall not be modified when reprinting, and the source and original link shall be retained
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