Infringement types for Amazon sellers include: image infringement, brand infringement, and patent infringement. Once any form of infringement is confirmed, the account is likely to be frozen.
1. Image infringement
Image infringement is the direct use of other people’s pictures without their consent. It is actually very simple to avoid image infringement. Sellers use their own pictures and do not download other people’s pictures on the Internet.
2. Brand infringement
Sellers who infringe on brands are generally new sellers who do not understand the platform rules and policies and do not know how hard Amazon will crack down on infringement. Infringement includes but is not limited to:
① Directly sell products with celebrity portraits, cartoons, animations, etc. without the authorization of the brand;
② Without the authorization of the brand, the product packaging is printed with other people’s trademarks and logos, and other people’s brand words are placed in the product title, five-line description, detailed description, and Search Term;
③ Directly follow the sale without authorization.
So how can sellers avoid these brand infringement behaviors?
First of all, sellers should have the awareness of infringement risk control, and it is best to nip the infringement risk in the bud. Some new sellers have had their accounts frozen after they put products related to Baymax, Hello Kitty, and Harry Potter on the shelves after opening their stores. In fact, as long as you have a little awareness of intellectual property rights, you will know that these products will infringe if you are not careful, and they cannot be put on the shelves without authorization.
Of course, in addition to this, there are some situations that are hard to prevent, such as false complaints. Whether it is brand infringement or patent infringement, once Amazon receives such a complaint, it will follow the principle of “freezing the account first”. At this time, the seller needs to contact the complainant to withdraw the lawsuit, or write an application letter and submit materials for appeal. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the store will be closed.
Secondly, sellers must know how to prevent brand infringement and protect account security.
①Choose products carefully, confirm the patent with the source factory before purchasing, and even the accessories of the product cannot infringe, so as to prevent patent infringement and ensure the regularity of the supply channel.
② Check the websites, products and pictures of all the big brands in the categories listed in the market.
③ Obtain the brand trademark authorization letter before listing the product.
④ Remember to check whether the listing has registered the trademark before following the sale.
⑤ Do not take advantage of the popularity of other brands, and do not layout other people’s brand names in titles, descriptions, and keywords.
Three, patent infringement
There are three types of patents: invention patents, utility model patents, and design patents. Generally speaking, some products with high technical content and novel appearance designs will apply for appearance patent protection. If the seller starts selling without authorization, it will cause patent infringement.
A seller once consulted the author. The product he sold was very similar to the product of another company on the platform, but he was not sure whether the other party had a patent. In this case, the seller can enter the patent number or the name of the appearance design and the patent keyword on the relevant trademark and patent website to search.
It should be reminded that sometimes there is no relevant appearance patent application record, which does not mean that the product to be queried has not applied for an appearance patent. It also requires professional knowledge to determine whether similar products infringe patents. It is recommended that sellers confirm with source suppliers, peer sellers, investment managers or patent agencies during product selection to avoid patent infringement as much as possible.