Big news! 42,000 US trademarks will be invalidated, and some sellers have been affected!

Another storm suddenly broke out in the cross-border circle!

As we all know, the United States has always been ruthless in its trademark actions against Chinese sellers. Looking back to 2022, a major incident involving 13,000 trademarks broke out . At that time, the industry generally believed that the dust had settled.

But just yesterday, the US Trademark Office took action again and issued a supplementary document on sanctions, and the number of invalid trademarks surged to about 42,000! (The original file can be obtained by clicking the network disk link at the end of the article)

On February 24, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a "Supplemental Show Causes Order and Notice that the USPTO intends to reconsider its registration decision." The notice is 531 pages long, and the attachments involve approximately 42,000 trademarks!

Notification object: Shenzhen XX Growth Shenzhen Qianhai XXX (Yes , the one you think of)

The supplemental notice further pointed out that the notified party also engaged in similar misconduct in the post-registration maintenance procedures, which led to the USPTO making incorrect decisions in these registrations:

Forged signatures: The signatures of the applicant/registrant and the U.S. practicing attorney are forged, and the submitted documents are not reviewed by the real signatories.

Concealing identity: The respondent deceives the USPTO by using false attorney information to conceal its involvement in the trademark proceeding.

Unlawful practice of law: Evidence shows that the respondent engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.

The USPTO indicated that registration decisions based on false statements will be revoked and the relevant proceedings will be restarted.

The notice also stipulates that if the relevant party objects to the USPTO's reconsideration of the registration decision or the imposition of sanctions in the reopened procedure, it must respond to the USPTO before March 26, 2025. If no response is submitted within the prescribed time, the USPTO will exercise its power to cancel or terminate the registration of the relevant trademark.

The above content means only one thing: the registration status of these more than 40,000 active trademarks have all been revoked and changed to the application status!

As soon as this news came out, the cross-border e-commerce industry was instantly in an uproar. This is undoubtedly the first storm in the cross-border e-commerce field since the beginning of the year! It is reported that the earliest trademark on the list had obtained a certificate in 2016 and has been in use for nearly ten years.

For cross-border sellers, once these trademarks are suddenly declared invalid, the protection of related product links will be greatly weakened, and they may face the risk of brand infringement, and the losses are difficult to estimate. Some sellers cried out in grief: "I have invested a lot of money in brand promotion, but if the trademark is gone, it's like going back to the days before liberation!"

After this incident, it is expected that the USPTO will be more stringent in its review of the qualifications of Chinese applicants and attorneys, as well as the agencies involved. Sellers must choose reliable agencies and not blindly pursue low prices. They must avoid similar situations from happening again!