The only line of defense! Teach you how to make your Amazon store stand firm in the tide of infringement!

Recently, the words "suspected of intellectual property infringement", "intellectual property complaints" or "complaints from buyers about the authenticity of goods" have frequently appeared on the Internet. The wave of infringement has swept in and once again become a hot topic. The editor is also at the forefront of the melon-eating front, and here we will explain to you the three situations in which infringement occurs.

According to Amazon's definition of infringement, infringement can be roughly divided into trademark infringement, patent infringement and copyright infringement.

Trademark Infringement

A trademark is a word, logo, design, or combination of these three that a company uses to identify its goods and services. These elements are protected by law to prevent unauthorized use by others. A trademark is more than just a simple logo. It can effectively help consumers identify the source of a product and thus distinguish the goods and services of one company from those of other companies. For example, when making a purchase, consumers often judge the quality and reputation of a product by its brand name or logo.

Trademark infringement occurs when a seller uses a particular mark or a mark similar to it without the permission of the trademark holder, and this similarity may cause confusion among consumers. Specifically, this infringement may involve the use of a brand's trademark words, symbols or patterns, or even a combination of these elements, such as a brand name or logo. This confusion can make consumers unsure whether the goods they purchase are indeed from the legal owner of the trademark, thereby damaging the rights and interests of the trademark holder.

Patent Infringement

Patents are legal protection for innovation, which means that through the patent system, inventors can obtain exclusive rights to their innovative achievements, thereby protecting their intellectual property rights from illegal use by others. Countries have a variety of different patent categories, such as invention patents, utility patents and design patents, each of which has different protection scopes and application conditions to adapt to different types of innovation and market needs.

Patent infringement refers to any commercial activity related to a patent by any party without the permission of the patentee during the validity period of another's patent. This includes the seller's actions of manufacturing, using, offering for sale, selling or introducing the invention into the country where the patent is registered. All of these actions may constitute infringement of patent rights and lead to legal liability. Therefore, it is very important to understand the definition of patent infringement and related laws to avoid unnecessary legal disputes.

Copyright Infringement

Copyright is an important mechanism for providing legal protection for original works. Its main purpose is to prevent others from copying or using these works without authorization. Through this legal protection, creators can protect their rights and ensure that the fruits of their labor will not be stolen or disseminated at will. Copyright law covers a wide range of creative works, including films, movies, music, books, audio works, video games, and paintings, all of which can be protected by law.

Copyright infringement refers to the situation where a seller uploads the copyright owner's original work to the product details page without the copyright owner's permission. This behavior not only infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of the creator, but may also lead to legal liability. Infringement seriously damages the protection of intellectual property rights and affects the creator's economic interests and creative enthusiasm, so it must be taken seriously.

So how can we effectively avoid infringement ? Here are some materials for sellers:

① When conducting product audits, special attention should be paid to the risk of infringing on the intellectual property rights of others if the product is printed with trademarks, patterns, or quotes from well-known film and television works. Therefore, auditors need to carefully confirm the legality of these elements to ensure that no legal liability will be incurred due to unintentional infringement.

② In order to fully understand the compliance of each product, it is particularly important to ask the supplier for detailed basic information about the product. This basic information includes the source of the product, material composition, and production process, which helps to determine whether it complies with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations.

③ When reviewing the product's appearance design and functions, it is necessary to carefully check whether there is any patent infringement involved to ensure that the product's design and functions do not plagiarize or imitate the contents of other registered patents to avoid potential legal disputes.

① During the packaging review process, it is necessary to confirm whether the packaging design infringes on registered patents. This means that the auditors must compare existing patents on the market to ensure that the designed packaging does not conflict with existing patents, thereby avoiding possible legal liability.

② At the same time, you should also check whether the packaging is printed with other people's trademarks. This is not only related to legal compliance, but also involves the maintenance of brand image. If it is found that the packaging contains unauthorized trademarks, it must be modified in time to protect its own legitimate rights and interests.

When reviewing the list, you need to carefully check the text and images in the list to confirm whether they contain unauthorized trademark patterns or text, music, etc. This process is an important part of ensuring compliance with product promotion and sales regulations, and avoiding legal issues caused by the use of other people's intellectual property rights.

For products that have been put on the shelves for sale, it is very necessary to conduct regular inspections to eliminate potential risks. As new trademarks and patents are constantly being registered, companies need to remain vigilant and update product information in a timely manner to avoid accidentally infringing on newly registered trademarks or patents and ensure continued compliance of the business.

If you really encounter infringement , what should you do? The editor has compiled some information for sellers here:

What should a store do when it encounters a trademark infringement complaint? There may be two situations:

① Infringement does exist. In this case, it is necessary to find out the cause of the infringement, formulate corresponding countermeasures, and measures to prevent trademark infringement from happening again in the future.

② The other party made a malicious report. In this case, you need to prepare sufficient information, such as relevant evidence to prove that the other party’s trademark does not exist, as well as your own brand registration certificate, brand authorization letter, brand filing and other related documents.

What should a store do when it encounters a patent infringement complaint? There are also two situations:

① Infringement does exist. At this time, it is necessary to find relevant patents based on the infringing patent number, analyze the specific reasons and links of product infringement, and formulate a practical action plan to prevent infringement from happening again.

② The other party maliciously reports. This requires us to provide relevant evidence of the other party’s patent not existing and our own patent materials. In addition, we can also provide product comparison charts to actively respond.

Copyright infringement is very common on the Amazon platform, partly because copyright protection is not restricted by category, and partly because copyright follows the principle of automatic protection (copyright is automatically generated after the work is completed).

In other words, if there are acts such as stealing pictures or plagiarizing product descriptions on Amazon, minor cases will result in the removal of the product description, and serious cases will directly close the store. The funds in the account will not be recovered, and all previous efforts will be in vain, especially for small and medium-sized sellers, who cannot afford such a blow.

Dealing with infringement issues requires sellers to have meticulous operations and adequate preparation. Whether it is pre-emptive prevention or post-appeal, sellers must follow Amazon's policies and regulations. At the same time, sellers must remain highly vigilant and adopt effective strategies to safeguard their own business interests. Creating differentiated product sales and a unique corporate culture is the key to gaining a firm foothold in the fierce market competition.