On the seller’s American case acceptance process and countermeasures through Emoji infringement freezing case

In the era of big data, the e-commerce platform has gradually emerged and developed rapidly, and a large number of merchants have been injected. The number of goods on the platform has also increased and become more and more complicated, so some intellectual property issues will be involved. With the development of the platform, the platform itself has become more and more strict in controlling the intellectual property rights of goods, so there have been many cases involving infringement. In order to avoid losses, it is suggested that you must strictly abide by the rules of the platform and take precautions. However, if you really encounter problems, don’t panic. You must find out the problems and seek the help of relevant professionals. I. Overview of the Emoji case Emoji is an emoticon bag originated in Japan, and its founder is a Japanese named Shigeru Kuroda. After Apple used this emoticon bag in its own products, its application scope has been expanded again and again. According to the data, the global usage rate of this emoticon pack is as high as 90%, and the number of transmissions reaches billions every day, which is very popular all over the world. Therefore, it is very popular for many businesses to seize the opportunity to produce and sell related products.

Because it is very popular at present, there are countless peripheral products, which are sold on all major platforms, and the products are dazzling, including printed clothes, quilts, stickers, etc., but selling this product also brings great infringement risks to businesses. According to incomplete data, since June last year, Emoji has sued no less than 29 infringement cases in the United States. In the first half of 2021, there were as many as 24 cases, and all of them were prosecuted by HSP law firm. After that, more and more businesses were sued and filed in the federal court of the United States, all of which were trademark infringement.

Rough statistics on trademarks. Up to now, Emoji has owned more than 500 trademarks (including pictures, words and derivatives, etc.), and registered 03, 05, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 28, 31, 36, 41, 43 in the United States, Canada, the European Union and other countries.

Case Summary 1. First of all, you must check whether there are infringing goods in the store. 2. While checking the goods, merchants must also pay attention to the title and listing to avoid the derivative words of emoji. 3. In addition to trademark infringement, we should also pay special attention to whether the pattern itself constitutes infringement. Interestingly, HSP represented the law firm very quickly from the filing of the Emoji infringement case to the freezing of the account. Relevant netizens said that the Emoji case (21-cv-01055) was filed with the court on February 24th, and its TRO freezing application was approved on February 25th! Not only Emoji infringement cases, but also other popular infringement cases are accepted very quickly, and all of them can quickly freeze accounts in just a few days. On the one hand, it shows that many large law firms have experience, skills and efficiency in representing these cases; On the other hand, these law firms usually ask for a temporary TRO court order to help freeze funds. Through trademark infringement cases, we can analyze the detailed review process of the approval of the US federal court. Second, the process of trademark infringement cases Generally speaking, the general trademark infringement cases are the following processes: evidence collection, filing, injunction, trial and compensation. The first step is to obtain evidence. In this step, the plaintiff himself or his attorney usually buys related infringing goods on the platform, or simply takes screenshots on the website to obtain evidence that the sale involves infringement. The second step is to file a case and apply for an injunction. After all the evidence collection is completed, the agency law firm will apply to the relevant court for filing a case. After the relevant court has filed the same case and accepted the case, under normal circumstances, the plaintiff will apply to the court for a temporary injunction TRO (valid for 14 days)+a preliminary injunction PIO (sustainable until the end of the lawsuit) to restrict the business from infringing again and freeze all the funds in its account involving infringement;

(the difference between a temporary injunction and a preliminary injunction) The next step is the responding period. The US federal procedural law clearly stipulates that the responding time for trademark infringement cases is 21 days, and the defendant must respond within 21 days whether to respond or not. If it fails to respond within the specified time, it will be sentenced by default and its account will be permanently banned; Then there is the trial link, where the defendant accepts the response, and then the two sides can exchange evidence. The judge can choose immediate judgment or trial judgment. The whole process can last for several months or 1-2 years, depending on the situation; Compensation: Usually, the plaintiff will determine the amount of compensation according to the amount of funds in the frozen account and the number of infringing products involved. Third, how to deal with trademark infringement cases, knowing ourselves and knowing ourselves can be invincible. Therefore, first of all, we must understand the specific process of handling trademark infringement cases in the United States. Only in this way can we face it calmly. When the seller becomes the defendant for no reason, we should do the following: firstly, the most important thing is to confirm the information and check whether our mailbox has really received the formal infringement notice sent by the court; secondly, we should confirm our account number and inquire about the frozen amount in it, so as to stop the loss in time and not to increase our losses; thirdly, we should check the infringing products in the store and take them off the shelves; (4) consider whether to settle or respond to the lawsuit; ⑤ If you are going to settle, you should find a professional lawyer to negotiate and reach a settlement agreement with the other party; ⑥ Until the settlement is successful, both parties sign a settlement letter, and then the opposing lawyer proposes to withdraw the lawsuit and unfreeze the account involving infringement. In the era of big data, various e-commerce platforms are booming, with more and more products and more miscellaneous products. As a result, the platforms are becoming more and more strict, and there are more and more problems involving intellectual property rights. Therefore, in order to avoid the risk of everyone’s losses, here is a little suggestion for everyone. We must strictly abide by the rules of intellectual property rights and don’t be lucky. If you really encounter the alleged infringement, don’t panic, treat it calmly, sort out the problem, and be sure to seek the help of relevant professionals!