Overseas Enforcement and Dispute Questions

A temporary restraining order is a US court order obtained by a rights holder, commonly in bulk against many sellers at once. It directs the platform to hold your balance and delist the accused products, and it takes effect before you have appeared in the case.

Usually 14-21 days from service, exactly as the court's order specifies. Missing that window means default, at which point the plaintiff moves to convert the frozen balance into a judgment rather than negotiate.

Through a court-ordered release: either a settlement agreement with a withdrawal stipulation, or a successful defence that ends the case. The platform acts on the order, not on correspondence with the plaintiff, so the paperwork has to be filed properly.

Compare three things: the frozen amount, the strength and validity of the asserted right, and whether your product actually falls inside it. Settlement is normally the cheaper answer when the mark is valid and the use obvious; defence pays when the right is weak, the scope argument is good, or the freeze is disproportionate.

Rarely wise. A letter costs the sender nothing and escalates quickly to a TRO or platform complaint. The useful response is a short, factual one — after checking whether the asserted right is valid and covers your goods.

Screenshot the notice and the accused listing, archive listing history and dates, export orders and supplier invoices, and keep the original image files. Evidence that predates the complaint is worth far more than anything assembled afterwards.

Attack it directly: opposition if it is still pending, invalidation if registered, or non-use cancellation where three years have passed without genuine use. Removing the right removes the complaint, and it changes the settlement price immediately.

Invalidation says the registration should never have been granted. Non-use cancellation says it was valid but has been idle for three consecutive years. The first looks at the file, the second looks at current use.

No. Ask for the number and verify the right exists, is in force, and covers the accused product. A short non-infringement analysis is the standard professional response and it usually stops a bluff.

Clean the supply chain and own enforceable rights. Buy only from suppliers who can document authority, link invoices to each purchase, stop riding other brands' keywords, and register your own marks and designs so you are the party with something to enforce.