Intellectual property refers to the exclusive rights that people enjoy according to law for the results of their intellectual labor. It is usually the exclusive right or exclusive right that the state grants to creators to enjoy for a certain period of time. Since most domestic buyers have a weak awareness of intellectual property protection, while foreign countries, especially European and American countries, attach great importance to the protection of intellectual products, and many sellers do not understand the intellectual property rights of other countries, Amazon often targets them with a complaint of infringement, which may lead to the removal of products from the shelves or even direct account suspension. Therefore, it is very necessary for sellers to understand the relevant intellectual property knowledge in advance to avoid stepping on mines in the international market.
Generally, intellectual property infringement on the Amazon platform can be roughly divided into three categories, namely trademark infringement, patent infringement and copyright infringement.
Trademarks include a combination of images, Chinese, foreign, numbers and color elements, which we traditionally call brands. Trademarks are regional and exclusive. Therefore, although sellers have registered domestic brand trademarks in China, they need to register them abroad to use or be recognized abroad. For example, sellers cannot write other brands in the search terms on the Amazon backend, as this will constitute trademark infringement.
Patent right is the exclusive right to implement a specific invention or creation that the inventor or his assignee enjoys in accordance with the law within a certain period of time. It is a kind of intellectual property. The types of patents are stipulated differently in different countries. In the Patent Law of my country, there are invention patents, utility model patents and design patents; in some developed countries (including the United States), patents include invention patents and design patents. Infringement of invention patents is relatively rare, while infringement of design patents is more common.
Copyright, also known as copyright, refers to the rights enjoyed by the author or other person (including legal persons) to a certain work (including literary, artistic and scientific works) in accordance with the law, including property rights and personal rights. Copyright infringement mainly occurs in the fields of books, film and television works, etc. Sellers should avoid pirated printing, illegal sale of film and television works, etc. At the same time, infringement of extended products of film and television works is prohibited, including the use of unauthorized character images, cartoon images and landscape patterns. It is prohibited to illegally sell media products (including books, movies, CDs, TV programs, software, video games, etc.) that are reproduced, dubbed, compiled or converted without the permission of the right holder.
As for the consequences of intellectual property infringement by global sellers, the Amazon platform gives the following explanation: If the goods sold by the seller infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, it may lead to the cancellation of the seller’s product information, or the suspension or cancellation of the seller’s sales rights. Sellers are responsible for ensuring that the goods they provide are legal and that they have obtained relevant sales or resale authorizations. If Amazon believes that the content of the product detail page or product information is prohibited, suspected of being illegal, or inappropriate, it may be deleted or modified without prior notice. Amazon reserves the right to determine whether the content is appropriate.