What to do if you receive a lawyer’s letter for picture infringement

1. What to do if you receive a picture infringement notification letter

If you receive a lawyer’s letter for picture infringement, you can Take the following measures:

(1) Log in to the relevant copyright website mentioned in the lawyer’s letter to verify the image.

(2) The company shall internally verify the source of the picture.

(3) Evidence preservation and timely deletion.

(4) Conduct possible negotiations.

(5) Inform the legal affairs department or lawyer promptly to prepare for litigation.

2. How to avoid online image infringement

1. Verify the source of the image. Images found by search engines cannot be used casually.

2. Purchase image copyright. Legal use of images.

3. Original pictures.

3. Legal Characteristics of Tort Liability

Tort liability refers to the civil legal consequences that civil subjects should bear due to the implementation of tortious acts. Tort liability means that everyone has an obligation to others not to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others due to their own wrong (fault) behavior. Otherwise, it will constitute a tort and the injured party must bear responsibility. Torts are basically illegal activities.

The legal characteristics of tort liability are as follows:

1. Tort liability is the legal consequences that a civil subject should bear for violating the obligations stipulated by law: civil obligations have statutory obligations and contractual obligations. , Legal obligations are obligations set through mandatory and prohibitive norms of law. This obligation has universal applicability to every natural person and legal person. Violation of this obligation constitutes tort liability. The agreed obligation is a certain obligation set between specific parties. Violation of the agreed obligation constitutes liability for breach of contract.

2. Tort liability is based on tortious behavior: the basis for tort liability is tortious behavior. Without infringement, there is no problem of bearing tort liability. Tort liability is the legal consequences that a perpetrator should bear if he commits an infringement act.

3. The forms of tort liability are diverse: in addition to the liability of the perpetrator or person responsible for tort liability, such as compensation for losses and return of property, in many cases, they may also bear the responsibility of stopping the infringement, Non-property forms of liability such as restoring reputation, eliminating influence, making amends and apologising. What should I do if I receive a lawyer’s letter for image infringement?

Legal subjectivity:

A lawyer’s letter is generally issued by a lawyer entrusted by the trademark owner to the infringer, requesting the infringer to stop the infringement and to impose legal obligations on the rights owner. Compensation for losses. After receiving a trademark infringement lawyer's letter, try to check the products you produce and sell against the infringements mentioned in the letter. If there is indeed any infringement, it is best to entrust a lawyer in time and actively contact the rights holder or the other party's lawyer for negotiation. If it is a product from legitimate channels, you can provide a sales contract and supply list. If you did not know that the product was an infringing product before, you can just stop selling it now. The following circumstances can prove that the goods were obtained legally by oneself: (1) There is a supply list and payment receipt legally signed and stamped by the supplier, which have been verified to be true or recognized by the supplier; (2) There is a purchase contract signed by both the supplier and the seller. And it has been verified that it has been truly performed; (3) There is a legal purchase invoice and the items recorded on the invoice correspond to the goods involved; (4) Other circumstances that can prove the legal acquisition of the goods involved.

Legal objectivity:

Article 80 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law" If you sell goods that are not known to infringe the exclusive rights of a registered trademark, you can prove that you have legally obtained the goods and explain that you provided them If the infringing product is found, the industrial and commercial administration department shall order it to stop sales and notify the industrial and commercial administration department where the supplier of infringing goods is located. What should I do if I receive a letter from a lawyer for copyright infringement?

In my country, to determine patent infringement, we must first determine the scope of protection of the patent, and then determine whether the technical features of the defendant's product or method fall within the scope of the patent. scope of protection. According to the provisions of my country's patent law, the scope of protection of an invention or utility model patent shall be based on the content of the claims, and the description and drawings may be used to explain the claims.

The scope of protection of a design patent shall be based on the design product shown in pictures or photos.

If the technical features of an enterprise's products or methods are all the same as the content of the patent's claims, they fall within its protection scope and constitute infringement. In addition, the principle of equivalents and the principle of estoppel also apply to the judgment of patent infringement in my country.

After careful analysis, if you confirm that your product or method does not constitute infringement, you can make a defense accordingly; if you confirm that your product or method has fallen into the protection scope of the patent, you can consider your own Whether the implementation behavior is an act that does not constitute patent infringement under the Chinese Patent Law. If it is confirmed that your product or method has constituted infringement, you can further analyze the validity of the patent. If the patent can be declared invalid, you can also win a patent infringement lawsuit.

Enterprises should entrust a Chinese patent attorney to conduct a careful search on the legal status and patentability of the patent. If, after analyzing the search results, it is believed that the patent may be declared invalid, they should seize the time and file a request during the defense period. Within the period, a request was made to the Reexamination Committee of the China Patent Office to declare the patent invalid. At the same time, a copy of the request for patent invalidation was submitted to the court, requesting the court to rule on suspending the proceedings. For utility model patents and design patents, the court should suspend proceedings. For invention patents, the court may or may not suspend it. Therefore, the defendant should actively provide the court with materials proving the lack of patentability of the patent in order to prompt the court to suspend the proceedings. If the court does not suspend the trial and makes an infringement judgment, the defendant should appeal in a timely manner and request the Patent Reexamination Board to speed up the process and strive to make a decision to declare the patent invalid before the court's second-instance judgment is made.

If the patent cannot be declared invalid and the company has indeed infringed the patent, it is recommended that the company stop the infringement in time and actively strive to reach a settlement agreement with the right holder.