On cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, sellers will inevitably encounter infringement complaints. Then the account was blocked, and what was even more uncomfortable was that the funds were also frozen. Faced with frequent platform infringement disputes, how should sellers respond? Next, I will give you a guide to preventing infringement in cross-border e-commerce.

The main types of infringement by cross-border e-commerce platforms

The infringement of cross-border e-commerce platforms is mainly against intellectual property rights, and the infringement of intellectual property rights mainly lies in trademark rights, copyrights, and designs. These four aspects include patent rights and invention patent rights.

1) Trademark infringement

Using the other party’s trademark or LOGO without authorization from the official product brand.

2) Copyright infringement

Usually refers to infringement of the author's copyright. Copyright infringement is commonly seen in original pictures, animation characters and other design works.

3) Design patent infringement

A new design of a product’s shape, pattern, color or their combination that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, similar to the appearance patent If the degree is above 60, it is considered an infringing fake. Complaint against appearance patent infringement by sellers on multiple platforms. )

4) Invention patent infringement

If the product for sale was invented by someone else and someone else has applied for patent protection, and the seller produces and sells it without permission, that is, selling imitations.

How should sellers respond to infringement complaints?

1) Remove the products that have been complained about. Take the initiative to delete similar products that have been released to avoid being complained again; and make timely withdrawals from your PayPal account to reduce property losses.

2) Contact the complaining party and request negotiation and settlement. Search the complaining party's brand website, contact email, company page, etc. through multiple channels, proactively contact the complaining party, sincerely apologize and explain the situation, proactively provide compensation, and strive for the other party to withdraw the complaint.

3) Entrust a lawyer to handle it. If the other party does not respond, it is recommended to entrust a lawyer with experience in relevant cases to handle it. The following materials must be provided:

①Plaintiff’s law firm, such as GBC/Keith/SMG/EPS, etc.;

② Freeze platform account information: store name, owner name, PayPal account and frozen amount;

③Infringing product sales link;

④Total sales amount and historical record of infringing products;

⑤Defendant’s contact address;

⑥Supplier information

4) Respond to the lawsuit after weighing the pros and cons. If the settlement amount is too high and the conditions are too harsh, you may consider filing a lawsuit and the court may reduce the compensation to a reasonable amount.

Note: If there is no response after the response period, the plaintiff will continue to submit an application for default trial to the court, and the court will give the defendant a certain amount of time to respond. If the defendant still does not respond within the specified time, the court will A default judgment will be issued, money will be removed from the account, and the store will be unable to operate.

Therefore, novice sellers must pay attention to whether there is any risk of infringement on the product cover, detail page, product information, etc. when opening a store to list products. They must also obtain authorization from others for the use of brands and technologies. Otherwise, once you encounter a complaint, the losses are often huge.

5) If the complaint is malicious, you cannot stand by idly

① Check the other party’s trademark and patent application status, self-certify that the product does not constitute infringement and negotiate with Amazon to restore the product to the shelves.

② Invalidate the competitor’s intellectual property rights application to force the competitor to automatically withdraw the lawsuit.

③Ask a lawyer to communicate on your behalf if necessary.

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