Amazon sellers have had their own problems with alleged intellectual property violations. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the US against Amazon sellers in China, alleging infringement of trademarks, including the word “airbag.” Amazon has issued guidelines in Chinese to educate sellers on how to avoid copyright infringement.
Lots of Amazon sellers are simply too busy dealing with inventory management, customer service, logistics, and other daily operational issues to go after Temu copycats. But David doesn’t want to just let it go.
“These Temu sellers are stealing other people’s information, making false advertisements, and hurting the interests of consumers,” he says.
He has spent hours researching laws and regulations, gathering information, translating Chinese content into English, and consulting lawyers. He has complained to Temu multiple times, receiving similar responses on each occasion: Temu said it couldn’t act because it couldn’t verify David’s ownership of the images and text, and asked for more information. WIRED examined David’s correspondence with Temu, as well as a legal opinion from a lawyer he consulted on the matter. The lawyer told David that he was sure the images on Temu had infringed his copyright, based on the fact that David has a registered trademark. The lawyer’s opinion was that David had provided enough information to Temu and that the company’s requests for more were “purely a delay and frustration tactic.”
The duplicate content is still on Temu.
Some larger Amazon sellers have already started legal proceedings against Temu. In May, the owner of FitBeast, an exercise equipment brand, sued Temu for copyright infringement in a US District Court in the Northern District of Illinois. Reuters reported that Temu was selling a copy of FitBeast’s exercise equipment for $5 on its website, while one FitBeast sells for $25.99 on Amazon. In April, Chinese manufacturer Shenzhen Kangmingcheng Technology sued Temu for trademark infringement, alleging that Temu carries a copy of its Hicober-branded hair towel, on sale for $5.99. On Amazon, the original sells for $29.99.
In May, Wham-O Holding, owner of the “Frisbee” trademark, sued a number of Chinese Temu sellers who used “frisbee” in their listings for trademark infringement. It was reported by Chinese news website Sohu that around 5,000 Temu sellers later had their accounts and funds temporarily locked. On Douyin, sellers complained in many cases, Temu actually wrote product descriptions on behalf of sellers. Now, a quick search of Temu doesn’t bring up any items described as frisbees. Instead, there are hundreds of listings now selling “flying discs.” The case is still ongoing.
Besides these IP infringement lawsuits, Temu is also currently involved in a legal dispute with its Chinese rival Shein, a low-cost “fast fashion” retailer that has also grown rapidly in the US. Last December, Shein filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging that Temu engaged in improper marketing practices. Temu has denied the allegations.
David is now considering hiring an attorney in Los Angeles to initiate legal action against Temu. But he admits it might be too costly.“For us small sellers, taking legal action and suing Temu in a foreign country requires a lot of time, energy, and resources. We might not be able to afford it. We might have to give in to pressure,” he says. Instead, he’s hoping that Amazon will go to bat for its sellers. “It would be great if Amazon can help us small sellers,” he says. “They must have more resources.”
CORRECTION: Updated 4:30 ET to include Amazon statement.