The cross-border e-commerce intellectual property industry is facing a major earthquake!
With the increasing emphasis on intellectual property in the cross-border e-commerce industry, there have been frequent incidents of trademark revocation due to intellectual property infringement in recent years. Recently, a company in Shenzhen exceededThe news that all 15000 US trademarks have been revoked has caused a stir in the industry. What exactly happened?
15000+US trademarks have been invalidated! Shenzhen service provider heavily fined
Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark OfficeThe USPTO official website has officially released a sanction decision against a Shenzhen intellectual property company and its executive director, Zhang, stating that the intellectual property company and Zhang have violated the trademark affairs operating standards of the Patent and Trademark Office, and have identified fraudulent behavior,And revoke the agency of the companyMore than 15000 trademarks, and permanent closure of Zhang and the company's US Patent and Trademark Office accounts.
Announcement content display, including but not limited toThe company and its employees apply for US trademark patents, submit relevant trademark documents, andAll permissions such as myUSPTO.gov account have been terminated.For sellers who are concerned about whether their trademarks are on the revocation list, the editor has also compiled a complete list, and sellers can check by stamping the link:
https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-Sanctions-Order-Yusha-Zhang.pdf
A seller revealed that the company's executives have also received an email from the US Trademark and Patent Office, which shows that the company and its employees have violatedUSPTO's practice rules in the Office of Trademark Affairs include illegal practice, providing false residential addresses, and providing false signaturesThe USPTO account and other activities have resulted in a significant backlog of provincial trademark reviews by the US Trademark Office.
The explosion of intellectual property rights in this cross-border circle has truly shocked many cross-border sellers, and even some sellers have revealed the reason for the revocation of trademarks by the US Trademark and Patent OfficeA small number of trademark agencies counterfeit the signatures of American practicing lawyers.
Some sellers say that counterfeiting a trademark registration can earn more moneyThe risk of $100, which in turn reduces the cost of registering counterfeit trademarks and lowers market prices, is self-evident.
In fact,As early as June this year, the company representedThe news that 14000+trademarks will be forcibly revoked has already spread throughout the cross-border circle.But immediately, a netizen sent out a screenshot, suspecting that the company's employees had responded to the incident. The content showed that the US Trademark Office had not imposed any substantive sanctions, but only issued a notice.
After a six-month hiatus, the incident was ultimately ruled out, which also sounded an alarm for many sellers. At a time when the trademark market is mixed and the quality of service providers varies, some experienced sellers have provided their own experience,When registering trademarks and patents, it is still necessary to look for established intellectual property companies; Service providers who offer extremely low prices (which may result in misappropriation of legal qualifications) and excessively high prices (which may result in overcharging but not doing a good job) need to be cautious; When looking for a service provider, one should not just compare prices, let alone trust verbal words.
The official fee for the US trademark is $250, the lawyer charges $100, and with a set of evidence of $300, the normal hard cost for intellectual property is around $2500, "said a seller. For this price, sellers can refer to it.
In addition, some sellers gave suggestions. When looking for cooperation services, we should first look for enterprises with formal records and formal operations (log in the Trademark Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration for inspection); Secondly, the registration of trademarks in the United States is generally handled by trademark practicing lawyers, and relevant practicing certificates can be required when necessary.
Industry disturbances occur year after year, and this year there have been particularly many. From being banned for review and infringement, to brand connections, and now that a certain intellectual property limited company in Shenzhen has been publicly recognized as fraudulent by the US Intellectual Property Office, the cross-border community seems to have never calmed down, and the difficulty of cross-border people is not just a matter of words
The "rogue" law firm took action, freezing 500 stores, and sellers collectively responded to the lawsuit
I believe many sellers in the industry have had the experience of being sued for infringement. Regardless of which platform the seller is on, as long as the infringement is discovered by the law firm, there is a high possibility that their account will be frozen in the future. After encountering this situation, most sellers' choice was to settle, but recently, a group of Chinese sellers whose store accounts were frozen chose to collectively respond to the lawsuit.
A seller recounted their collaboration with other sellersThe entire process of 'confronting' the US law firm DAVID until 'winning'.
It is understood that this timeThe store account has been blocked for sellers of wedding dress products on AliExpress and Alibaba International Station, jointly owned by frozen stores524, and it is the US law firm DAVID, which has a reputation for infringement, that has filed complaints.
On November 25th, many sellers in the industry received notifications of account freezes, and after a short period of negotiation, they were preparing to launch a "rebellion". Subsequently, the sellers consulted a law firm with previous experience in responding to lawsuits. After communication, the sellers realized that the best way to deal with this incident was to respond to lawsuits, in order to purify the industry environment.
Choose to joinThere are more and more sellers in the "camp", and over 100 of them have started collecting and providing relevant information, and have decided to freeze the platform's legal fees based on the amount. Ultimately,The plaintiff's lawyer announced that the frozen524 stores withdrew their lawsuits, and over 100 sellers successfully counterattacked.
From receiving the freeze notice to gathering companions, collecting information, and finally unfrozen accounts, these sellers only took a week, which is precisely whyThanks to the efforts and efforts of 100 sellers, 524 store accounts were unfrozen.
In fact, this situation is not only happening in the wedding dress industry, but also not uncommon in other industries and platforms. Many sellers have the same experience. Many sellers have expressed that when encountering such situations, they mostly choose to settle, although they know that they are beingIf you knock, you can only mute and eat Huanglian.
This time, this group of sellers achieved the desired results through unity and perseverance, and also received praise from many sellers in the industry↓
I was only hit by this law firm in the first half of the year, and this time it's really a relief
If you have the confidence, you should resist and worship the big shots~
I used to hear about reconciliation, but it's the first time I've seen such a great result. It's really exciting
But looking at this matter, thisThe reason why over 100 sellers were able to win was because the plaintiff provided insufficient evidence of seller infringement. The sellers who rebelled against them were not in an unprepared battle, they were fighting for their legitimate rights and interests. In other words, the handling methods of the sellers mentioned above are not applicable to sellers who have indeed engaged in infringement.
In recent years, there have been more and more sellers involved in infringement in the industry, and many sellers have reported that,The reason why "rogue" law firms have an increasing proportion of TROs is because they see more and more Chinese sellers choosing settlements, and even some seemingly risk-free patents, trademarks, and copyrights have been complained of.
'Infringement' has become a commonplace topic. Undoubtedly, the losses and costs caused by infringement to sellers are enormous. Sellers should not only value the brand but also pay more attention. If it is confirmed that a malicious complaint is encountered, they should promptly take up weapons to protect their legitimate rights and interests.