Generic侵权事件全程跟踪

先以某卖家收到的被移除销售权限的通知说开来:

Hello,

You currently may not sell on Amazon.ca because you are offering items that may infringe intellectual property rights or may be inauthentic. Examples of these items are at the end of this email.

Funds will not be transferred to you but will stay in your account while we work with you to address this issue. If you have any open orders, please ship them.

You can see your balance and settlement information in the Payments section of Seller Central. If you have questions about those, please write to payments-investigate@amazon.ca.

To sell on Amazon.ca again, please send the following information to pq-review@amazon.ca:

-- Copies of invoices, receipts, contracts, delivery orders, or authorization letters from your supplier issued in the last 90 days. The quantity of items shown should match your inventory.

-- If you are not the brand owner, provide an authorization letter and a complete set of documentation, including authorization letters, to prove a valid supply chain.

-- If you are the brand owner, provide a copy of the brand registration certificate, and business license or personal identity card.

-- Any additional details you would like us to know.

You can send .pdf, .jpg, .png, or .gif files. These documents must be authentic and unaltered. You may remove pricing information, but the rest of the document must be visible. We will maintain the confidentiality of your supplier contact information.

We will review your information and decide if you may sell on Amazon.ca again. If you do not send the required information within 17 days, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.ca.

To learn more about our policies, search for ""Amazon Anti-Counterfeiting Policy"" and ""Intellectual Property Violations"" in Seller Central Help.

To talk to someone about this email, ask our Seller Support team to contact you (https://sellercentral.amazon.ca/hz/contact-us/performance).

-------------------------------------

“GENERIC ”– ASIN B01I000G8 B01IO0000K B01I0005SY B01H0005IE

-------------------------------------"

Sincerely,

Seller Performance Team

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com

在通知的结尾处,亚马逊举例了侵权的商品,而这些产品被列举出来的原因,都是因为产品发布时在Brand处填写了Generic。

Generic在英文中的本意是“通用的、不注册的、非专利的”意思,发布产品时,Brand Name是一个必填项,Amazon也规定对于没有品牌的产品是填写Generic

再平常不过的Brand设置,这次部分亚马逊中小卖家遭遇Generic商标事件,导致账号被关闭,或产品被迫下架,清理库存等。关于Generic是否存在商标注册法律效力?亚马逊Generi事件醉翁之意不在酒?如何防止中招Generic侵权?此侵权如何申述?果粉们众多的疑问,且看干匠娓娓道来。

Generic不侵权

“Generic”被注册商标,帐号受限的问题,只能说是“乌龙事件”。乌龙分析三大原因:

1.Generic目前美国/欧盟/加拿大并没有任何商标权,无论单独国家去申请还是通过各种手段去申请,最终都是无疾而终。即无效商标,无效商标即没有商标权,不能作为商标权去引证的条件。例如美国这两个无效商标:

2.Generi不能注册商标引证的法条:

以上两件申请,同样的商标,不同的商品项目,但审查员引证了相同的商标法驳回上述商标申请:

第一条驳回理由:REFUSAL OF REGISTRATION:  FAILURE TO FUNCTION

不具有区分商品来源的商标功能

Registration is refused because the applied-for mark does not function as a trademark to indicate the source of applicant’s goods and to identify and distinguish them from others.  Trademark Act Sections 1, 2, and 45, 15 U.S.C. §§1051-1052, 1127; see In re Phoseon Tech., Inc., 103 USPQ2d 1822, 1827-28 (TTAB 2012); In re Remington Prods., Inc., 3 USPQ2d 1714, 1715 (TTAB 1987); TMEP §§904.07(b); 1202 et seq.

该申请商标不具有区分商品来源的功能,因此被驳回。 商标法第1,2,45章T

第二条驳回理由:REFUSAL OF REGISTRATION: DESCRIPTIVENESS—Section 2(e)(1) 描述性

Registration is refused because the applied-for mark merely describes a characteristic of applicant’s goods and/or services.

Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); see TMEP §§1209.01(b), 1209.03 et seq.

该申请商标只描述了申请人产品或服务的特征,因此被驳回。商标法第2章

因此,GENERIC在美国不管申请在哪些类别项目上面都是没有显著性的,都会以商标不能区分产品来源被驳回。

3.最后美国欧洲的律师针对此次Generic侵权事件是这样看的:

美国律师认为GENERIC在美国并不是一个注册商标,所以应该不是这个商标的问题,是否是因为亚马逊更改了政策或者说是对方投诉的其实是LISTING侵权,而不是商标侵权?因为美国律师认为GENERIC商标侵权在法律上来说是不成立的。

欧盟律师答复:同样在欧盟的知识产权官方数据库中,通过搜索GENERIC有73个商标跳出来显示含有GENERIC,但所有注册成功并且有效的商标都是含GENERIC的组合商标,例如下面这个就是GENERIC加图形注册成功。

欧洲律师认为单独的GENERIC文字标是不能注册的。并且列举了2015年以来所有的已注册的GENERIC商标都是组合商标,并没有单独注册成功的先例。

“醉翁之意不在酒”?!

跨境电商和知识产权资深人士:诡异的商标侵权案件背后,亚马逊在抢食汽配市场。

事件中Generic商标的申请人是美国某知名汽车公司,该商标从奥地利和法国这两个商标没有实质审查的国家注册拿到Generic商标的所有权,然后用作母商标在通过马德里商标延伸到实质审查的美国和其他国家进行保护。在美国的延伸保护申请是否通过还未可知晓。

据悉,马德里商标需用母商标延伸到其他国家,才能进行保护,即它支持在没有实质审核的国家申请,然后延伸到有实质审核的国家进行保护。但实质审核的国家还是会对商标进行审查。(马德里体系注册的特点之一是:自注册日起,国际注册具有同申请人在每一个被指定国家进行通常国内申请的同等效力。除非此商标的保护要求在被指定国家内被依照其国内法律于规定时限里被驳回,否则,此国际注册等同于在被指定国家的国内注册。)

跨境电商和知识产权资深人士分析,像某汽车公司这样大的企业,其业务覆盖全球大部分地区,其商标名字在单一国家注册可能较难通过,同时也不现实,而通过马德里商标注册,则可以最大范围地进行知识产权保护,其商标申请目的一般是为了自我保护,在外界不对商标持有人造成威胁时,商标持有人通常不会主动攻击。

因此,可以得出推测一:有人以此商标起事,向平台投诉然后造成一系列侵权账号/listing冻结。

推测二:亚马逊与全球名列前茅的汽车供应商一一签约,其中也涉及了某汽车公司,而对这一系列相关的汽配品牌的保护引出了近期这一事件。

推测三:近期亚马逊方面多次对外提到,拓展北美新工具“打造品牌”,助力“中国品牌”走 “全球品牌”,由此可见亚马逊17年对卖家拥有品牌和知识产权保护的重视。也可以借助该事件清理一部分卖家,给到平台无品牌卖家一个警示。引起平台卖家对品牌知识产权保护的重视。

这次事件亚马逊所采取的动作可以推测出其决心,结合其2016年的卖家大会中,将品牌形容为工具也可以看出,亚马逊将比以往更加重视买家客户体验和卖家拥有品牌,并且对此也将会有政策倾斜。另外,对于汽配品类丰厚利润的觊觎,现在也可以揣测一二。

预防中招Generic侵权

对于当前有Generic产品在线但尚未收到通知的卖家,老魏建议最好是能够对Listing进行编辑或者删除,能够编辑品牌名称的,果断编辑修改,不能够编辑品牌名称的,果断删除!

也许有些卖家会说,我还有不少产品在库存,对于这个状况,要综合考虑权衡表,是匆忙的销售一些产品然后导致账号死掉划算,还是损失一点库存,增加一点成本,保护账号安全划算。

注意:listing的删除(Delete),而不是关闭(Close)。删除意味着这条Listing在亚马逊数据库中消失,而关闭意味着该Listing的数据依然记录在亚马逊中的数据库中,只是在前台不可见,之前曾经发生过不少卖家因为侵权产品仅仅Closed掉,很长时间后,自己已经忘记了的情况下却导致账号突然受限的情况。

Generic侵权申述

解决方案一

邮件内容如下:

Hello, thank you for your reply.First of all,the three products are generic(no brand!),or the brand(s) is not registered in the local market  selling to, for example North America and Europe, my listings (title, brand and description) as “generic”. absolutely compatible products,you can get it from their title, brand, and product description.What we sale are generic,If you insist!Please let me know which brand and intellectual property rights these products involved.

At present, I have checked all the stock of goods, other goods do not have any problems. Look forward to your reply more information, let me check and solve,and provide relevant information. thank you very much

希望这个邮件能帮助到你们,被移出销售权的可以根据各自的情况写!

解决方案二

首先,他收到了亚马逊暂时取消其销售权的邮件,但他销售的产品都是没有品牌的,在标题、描述、品牌处都写的“GENERIC”。

之后,他直接发邮件到pq-review@amazon.com(没有提供任何发票、收据、授权证明),不是通过后台直接申诉的,也建议不要开case,因为开case全是转发,亚马逊基本不会回复。同时,他在发邮件之前删除了所有的generic产品。

这位卖家的邮件内容如下:

Hello, thank you for your reply. First of all, the three products are generic(nobrand!),or the brand(s) is not registered in the local market  selling to, for example North America and Europe, my listings (title, brand and description) as “generic”. absolutely compatible products,you can get it from their title,brand, and product description.What we sale are generic,If you insist! Please let me know which brand and intellectual property rights these products involved.

At present, I have checked all the stock of goods, other goods do not have any problems. Look forward to your reply more information, let me check and solve,and provide relevant information. thank you very much。

另一位中招卖家,在这封邮件的基础上又加了一段话:

And we fill the "Generic" as the brand name cause on you site it said "If you are not listing a branded product, use "Generic" in the brand attribute".Even on the http://www.uspto.gov/trademark,  the "Generic"  brand is also dead.

之后,这位卖家从申诉到被解封只用了半天时间,该卖家账号是新的,邮件中没有加发票,在邮件申诉前,卖家也把涉事的几个generic listing删掉了。

涉事卖家可以借鉴这些邮件内容,再根据自身情况来修改。同时,对于亚马逊要求的供应商发票、收据、合同或交货单副本等尽可能提供,全力配合。

解决方案三

1.标明清楚自己产品没有问题,是正规渠道进货的诚信卖家。
2.尽量多的提供进货增值税发票、合同、授权、商标等一切证明自己“无罪”的证据。
3.阐明generic产品是亚马逊官方规定的无品牌产品brand用法。具体原文可以后台搜索generic查询。说明自己就是根据亚马逊规定来做,并无违规和侵权行为。

合同和收据可以造假,有供应商签字盖章,可以找玩的好的真实供应商也行,日期以前时间。发票可以补开现在日期(补开现在的是合法的,不用以前日期也是认可的),也可以开现在的PS成以前日期,也可以找个发票PS。(发票代码什么最好是真实的和金额对的上的,可以查到的)要有供应商地址公司名称等,数量产品对的上。发票类似如下(普票和专票都可以,专票税点较高),每个地点不一样,会计就知道(需要联系供应商,口供需要一致)。

这个问题是没有授权的,如果其它的是需要授权可以这样:品牌授权书

Note: Please print and sign this form and return a scanned PDF or image.

BRAND REGISTRY AUTHORIZATION

By signing this form, you confirm that:

(i)You authorize the “Brand Manager” identified below to manage your brand on Amazon through

Amazon’s Brand Registry.

(ii)You have the ownership rights to give the authority described in (i) above.

If you feel, at any time, that the identified Brand Manager should no longer manage your brand through Amazon’s Brand Registry, contact brand-registry-service@amazon.com to revoke the Brand Manager’s authorization.

Note that:

By granting Brand Registry authority to an Amazon seller, you are giving that seller greater control, compared to other sellers, over the Amazon detail page attributes (e.g. titles, descriptions and images) for products under your brand.

Brand Registry enrollment or authorization does not prohibit other sellers from selling the registered products on Amazon.

Brand Registry authorization is an agreement solely between you and the seller you authorize. Amazon does not vouch for the suitability of the authorized seller or any actions taken (or not taken) by the authorized seller. You acknowledge that Amazon has no responsibility or liability for any actions or inactions by the authorized seller.

Amazon in its sole discretion may at any time, cancel or modify (a) the Brand Registry or (b) any seller’s Brand Registry authorization.

AUTHORIZED BRAND REGISTRY MANAGER: ******

CONTACT INFORMATION:**********

Business adress:  ************,henzhen, Guangdong, 518000

Email: *******@***.com

Tel: (+86)*****

BRAND NAME(S): ****

BRAND OWNER:  *******

BRAND OWNER CONTACT INFORMATION:  *****

Business Address: ************,Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518000

Email: *******@***.com

Tel: (+86)*****

BRAND OWNER SIGNATURE:    __Date: ___

干匠有话说:Generic侵权事件已经持续讨论好一段时间了,欢迎行业人士围观讨论,不断把你的技巧、经验、案例解读补充到此帖此主题,使之成为雨果|干货铺成为跨境电商的百科全书!