The company that specializes in mobile phone airbag holders, PopSockets LLC (a candy company hidden defendant quietly Mimi's rights protection!PopSockets mobile phone airbag holder has reported again, has sued hundreds of merchants!), as early as June 2017 began to defend its rights.
In the first two cases, the defendants were still named and surnamed, and on June 26 of the same year, they began to use Schedule "A" to hide the other defendants. Maybe PopSockets has tasted the sweetness because of this, and has been defending its rights almost every year since then.
(▲ Introduction to some of the prosecutions of PopSockets, click to see a larger picture)
Plaintiff PopSockets (24-cv-00693) filed a TRO Temporary Restraining Order with the court on Feb. 1, which was signed by the judge on the same day, and a summons was issued to the defendant on Feb. 2.
You can also scan it to get the link to inquire about the latest progress of the case.
(▲ Case progress, click to see a larger picture)
And in this year's rights protection documents, there is a very familiar word: AIRBAG (airbag).
(▲ Trademark range, click to see a larger picture)
A seller who used this word before this time was sued by PopSockets for trademark infringement, and 6w Domei Knife was frozen at that time.
And some sellers are very wronged, obviously they haven't sold a single order, and they have been fished by law firms to enforce the law, and the unit price may be more than a dozen yuan, but they are actually told that they need to pay thousands or even tens of thousands of compensation.
It's really good to go over and grab it.
The most critical issue in such infringement litigation cases is the injunction to freeze the funds of TRO and PIO.
TRO is a temporary injunction of 14 days at a time, which can be applied for 2 times.
The plaintiff law firm will apply for a TRO injunction when filing a lawsuit, and then notify the platform to freeze your store's funds, and then the platform performance notice you usually receive is infringing.
After the TRO temporary injunction expires, you can apply for a permanent PIO injunction.
PIO means that as long as the case is not adjudicated, the store's funds will be permanently frozen.
There is a threshold for a permanent PIO ban:
One of the conditions is that the plaintiff must have a better chance of winning the case, or that there is no injunction, and the plaintiff's loss will be incalculable.
Only in this case will the judge grant the PIO injunction.
So at this time, the judge will set up a hearing on the PIO approval, and if the defendant has a problem with the injunction, he must attend the hearing to raise a defense, otherwise, it is equivalent to acquiescing to the validity of the PIO injunction.
Many sellers may be worried that choosing to respond to the lawsuit will cause the store to suffer more money and time losses, so they would rather choose to settle the matter and settle the matter, or abandon the store directly.
But if your store only sells one or two items, and another item is phishing and does not cause unforeseen damage to the plaintiff, then you have the right time and place, and if you are willing to attend the hearing, the PIO ban will be defeated.
But everyone should be clear that even if the PIO is knocked out and the store's funds are unfrozen, it does not mean that the case is over, and the case is still ongoing.
If you choose to settle at this time, it is wisest to let the other party withdraw the lawsuit, unless you have prepared the legal fees to the other party.
Of course, not every store and every case is suitable for this operation, and the choice of settlement or response to the lawsuit still has to be analyzed in combination with the actual situation.
As trade between countries becomes closer, friction and disputes are inevitable. The other party will continue to use the law to defend its rights, and we must also learn to use legal weapons to protect ourselves.
Don't panic when you encounter a case, it must be justified if you don't prosecute, and don't rush to compromise and settle.
If you believe that the other party's IP is flawed, the frozen funds are relatively high, the product has not been sent to the litigation state, the product can be proved to be genuine, the sales volume is small and verifiable, etc., you can contact us Qingfeng to discuss the solution, we will find a balance between the timeliness, cost, and justice of the processing, and help you better solve the case.
With more than 15 years of trial experience, Qingquan Cooperation's U.S. IP lawyers have represented many defendant sellers in defending against the plaintiff's TRO/PI injunction and resolving cases with zero compensation.