200+ Amazon BSR trademarks maliciously registered! How to prevent trademark patents from being hijacked?

Prevent hijacking of trademark patents with 200+ malicious Amazon BSR registrations

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, but please stay calm.

During this critical period of preparing for the peak season, a wave of Amazon account verification has made people exhausted, and immediately following that, news of a sudden explosion from a well-known cross-border logistics company in Shenzhen, has caused over 1000 sellers to encounter “rogue” trademark and patent issues: more than 200 Amazon BSR trademarks were maliciously registered, 1033 accounts have been frozen, and the ransom amount has reached 80,000 euros (approximately 600,000 yuan).

Rogue groups specifically target Chinese sellers

The most frightening thing is that your enemy – rogue groups work even harder than you do.

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Maigo previously reminded everyone to be vigilant against “rogue” trademark and patent issues ( | ，！？). Recently, rogue groups specifically target Chinese sellers! They make money without conscience, and suck blood from sellers!

Some netizens said that this is a group of less than four people who take advantage of the weak brand protection awareness of domestic sellers, first register the trademarks and patents, then sue the sellers and professionally extort compensation for infringement. They earned over 7 million in six months, and their annual income is expected to reach 25 million.

As previously mentioned, over 200 Amazon BSR trademarks were affected, involving multiple categories, most of which are trademarks with good sales rankings on the platform. Sellers have no way to complain, their accounts are in danger, and some sellers have been subjected to high-priced ransom for trademark and patent “rogues”.

Some sellers with weak brand protection awareness may have some questions:

“What is the use of registering a trademark or patent publicly?”

“Suing infringing businesses is not reasonable, why do they say it’s catching market loopholes?”

At the same time, some sellers have said they have encountered similar events with trademark patents “gangsters” in the past.

The following is a screenshot of some of the trademarks registered by the gang. What makes Mai Mai even more angry is that these trademark and patent gangsters have even entrusted intermediaries to inform many victims, appearing to be friendly in communication, but actually extorting and threatening them.

Image source: Knowledge speaks freely

What also surprised Mai Mai is that there is actually an organization specifically training “patent gangsters”!

On the one hand, such organizations lure sellers with weak brand protection awareness to make money by professionally registering and claiming compensation; on the other hand, they attract those who are interested in this profitable business and teach them how to do infringement claims business, charging huge training fees, with a single course costing as much as 20,000 yuan!

How to prevent trademark and patent grabbing?

Register in advance and form a trademark moat

After operating the store on track, register patents for your explosive products in a timely manner, register trademarks for your brand as soon as possible, and lay out in advance, using intellectual property rights to establish a solid wall for your brand and products.

Enhance risk prevention awareness

Sellers can establish defense against registering similar or dissimilar commodity categories, improve trademark layout; for new and explosive products, they must do a good job of infringement warning, timely understand whether listings, products, product images, etc. infringe, and adjust promptly. Strengthen attention to trademark application announcements in the location of the layout, and if you find a grab, file an objection or lawsuit in a timely manner to nip the grab in the bud.

Keep registration evidence and apply for customs filing.

In general, trademark registration follows the “first-to-file” principle. Therefore, companies should register their trademarks as early as possible and retain evidence, arrange personnel to conduct regular monitoring and protection work, and avoid malicious infringement. Once discovered, timely file objections and lawsuits with the Trademark Office and platforms, and nip the risks in the bud.

Note: Those who already have domestic trademark registration can file with local customs to increase the security of exported goods and prevent others from selling in countries where registration has been applied for.

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