百一知识产权与位于纽约的Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP律所有着友好合作关系，本文由该所合伙人Mark J. Rosenberg提供，由百一知识产权夏一 、蒋怡芸提供翻译。

Often, an Amazon seller accused of patent infringement finds itself in a frustrating predicament. The seller receives an email from Amazon notifying it that the seller’s product is being removed from the site and stating that if the seller believes that the infringement allegation is incorrect, the seller should directly contact the patent owner.

通常，亚马逊卖家在被指控专利侵权时会陷入沮丧的困境。卖家收到一封来自亚马逊的邮件，通知其产品将从网站上被删除，并声明若卖家认为该侵权指控有误，须直接与专利权人联系。

Not surprisingly, the seller’s or its attorney’s good faith explanation as to why there is no infringement often falls on deaf ears. And, the seller’s appeals to Amazon for assistance in rectifying the situation are usually fruitless. At that point, the seller has two options - either accept that its product is banned from Amazon or commence a federal court action requesting a declaration the product does not infringe the asserted patent. Not only is the litigation option expensive, there is a high likelihood that the patent owner will file a counterclaim for infringement and damages based on the sales of the accused product. Making matters worse, unscrupulous patent owners, aware of the seller’s predicament, have used it to their advantage by making meritless patent infringement assertions against competitors’ products sold on Amazon, resulting in the competitor’s product being taken down and no desirable recourse.

显然，专利权人对于卖家或其律师提出的没有侵权的善意解释往往不予理睬。而且，卖家向亚马逊求助以改善这种情况通常也只是徒劳。在这种情况下，卖家只有两个选择——接受自己的产品被亚马逊禁售，或者向联邦法院提起诉讼，确认该产品并未侵犯专利权人所主张的专利权。但是，这样做不仅诉讼费用昂贵，而且专利权人很有可能提出反诉，控告侵权，并基于被控侵权产品的销售情况要求损害赔偿。更有甚者，有些无良的专利权人意识到卖家困境，会利用这一优势，对竞争对手在亚马逊上销售的产品提出缺乏依据的专利侵权指控，导致竞争对手的产品被迫下架且没有理想的救济方式。

Earlier this year, Amazon introduced a pilot program that may remedy this situation in a way that benefits both patent owners and Amazon sellers. Under Amazon’s Neutral Patent Evaluation program, patent owners and Amazon sellers can have their disputes determined by a neutral evaluator selected by Amazon in a streamlined and low-cost proceeding. The program is limited to claims of infringement of utility patents and is currently by invitation only.

今年初，亚马逊为了改善这种情况，推出了一个对专利权人和亚马逊卖家双方都有利的试点项目——亚马逊的中立专利评估程序。在该程序中，专利权人和亚马逊卖家之间的争议将由亚马逊选出一个中立的评估员通过更简便、更低成本的方式进行决断。目前该程序只适用于对发明专利权利要求的侵权，且只能通过邀请加入。

The procedure is initiated when the patent owner submits an Amazon Utility Patent Neutral Evaluation Agreement, in which the patent owner provides information regarding the accused Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) and the asserted patent. Making the proceeding more efficient for patent owners is that one evaluation proceeding can include multiple sellers of the same product. Amazon then sends the Neutral Evaluation Agreement to each seller offering the accused products on Amazon and gives each the option of: (i) executing and returning the Evaluation Agreement within three weeks, with all requested information or (ii) having their listings of the accused products removed from Amazon. If a seller does not agree to participate in the evaluation or does not comply with the agreement, Amazon removes the seller’s listings for the accused products.

专利权人通过提交亚马逊发明专利中立评估协议来启动该程序，专利权人需提供亚马逊标准识别号码（ASIN）（用于识别涉嫌侵权的产品）以及其所主张的专利信息。对于专利权人而言，该程序的高效之处在于一次评估程序可以同时包含销售相同产品的多个卖家。程序启动后，亚马逊会把中立评估协议发给销售被控产品的每个卖家，并给每个卖家以以下选择：(i) 在三周内签署并返还评估协议，提供所有要求的信息；或 (ii) 将被控产品的listings从亚马逊上删除。如果卖家不同意参与评估或不遵守协议，亚马逊将删除卖家对应的被控产品的listings。

All parties to the evaluation are required to pay the evaluator $4,000. This weeds out bad faith claims made by patent owners as well as sellers that have weak non-infringement claims. If the patent owner fails to pay the $4,000 to the evaluator within the required time, the evaluation does not proceed. Notably, the Neutral Evaluation rules do not provide for what happens to the listings for the accused products in the event that the patent owner fails to pay the evaluation fee. Presumably, the listings remain up. If a seller does not submit its $4,000 within the required time, Amazon will take down the seller’s listings for the accused products. Further encouraging only strong claims and defenses, the prevailing party’s $4,000 is refunded at the conclusion of the evaluation.

参与评估的所有当事方须向评估员支付4,000美元。这有利于减少专利权人的恶意主张以及侵权可能性较高的卖家。假如专利权人未在规定时间内向评估员支付4,000美元，评估程序将不会继续。值得注意的是，中立评估规则没有指出若专利权人未支付评估费时会如何处理被控产品的listings。我们推测会允许该listings继续存在。假如卖家未在规定时间内提交4,000美元，亚马逊将移除被控侵权产品的listings。评估结束后，将把4,000美元返还给胜方，以此进一步鼓励在只有认为己方拥有强有力的指控或辩护的情况下才参与该项目。 

Once the parties submit their fees, the evaluator sets a briefing schedule. Under the Neutral Evaluation rules, the patent owner is given twenty-one days to submit its initial arguments; the seller has fourteen days to respond; and the patent owner has seven days to submit an optional reply. There is no discovery, trial or hearing. Further streamlining the proceeding is that the patent owner is permitted to assert only one claim from the asserted patent against the accused product; and the seller’s defenses are limited to (i) non-infringement, (ii) invalidity or unenforceability based on an order or judgment of a United States court, the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the International Trade Commission and (iii) invalidity based on independently verifiable evidence that the seller’s product or a physically identical product was on sale one year or more before the asserted patent’s earliest effective filing date.

各方上交费用后，评估员将制定一个期限表。根据中立评估规则，专利权人有21天的时间用于提交初始意见，卖家有14天用于回应，之后专利权人可选择是否在7天内提交答复。无证据开示、审判或听证程序。该程序的进一步简化之处在于，专利权人可以仅依据专利权的一项权利要求就提出侵权主张，且卖家的抗辩仅限于主张 (i) 不侵权；(ii) 专利权无效或无法执行，基于美国法院、美国专利商标局或国际贸易委员会的命令或判决；(iii) 专利权无效，基于可独立证明卖家的产品或是物理上相同的产品在被主张的专利最早有效申请日前一年或更早就被销售的证据。

After the parties’ papers are submitted, the evaluator has fourteen days to announce its decision. The evaluator can either find that the patent owner is likely to prove that the accused product infringes the asserted patent claim or that the patent owner is not likely to prove that the accused product infringes the asserted claim. Under the Neutral Evaluation rules, the evaluator provides the basis for his or her finding only if the evaluator finds in favor of the seller. If the evaluator finds in favor of the patent owner, Amazon will take down the accused product. If the evaluator finds in favor of the seller, its product will remain listed on Amazon.

在各方提交材料之后，评估员需在14天内宣布决定。评估员可以裁决专利权人很可能证实了被控产品侵犯了所主张专利的权利要求，或是专利权人不太能证实被控产品侵犯了所主张的权利要求。根据中立评估规则，评估员只有在裁决有利于卖家时才需为该决定提供说明。假如评估员的裁决有利于专利权人，亚马逊将使被控产品下架。假如评估员的裁决有利于卖家，则对应产品将继续于亚马逊陈列。

Amazon’s rules do not provide for an appeal or reconsideration of the evaluator’s decision. Moreover, the evaluation rules, unlike typical arbitration agreements, do not preclude patent owners and sellers disappointed with the results of the evaluation from getting a second bite of the apple by commencing a federal court action for patent infringement or a declaratory judgment.

亚马逊的规则未提供对评估员决定进行上诉或复议的渠道。此外，该评估规则不同于典型的仲裁协议，不排除对评估结果不满的专利权人或卖家另外向联邦法院提起专利侵权之诉或确认不侵权之诉。

While some sellers have expressed concern that the process will be biased against them or against sellers based outside of the United States, especially in China, this does not appear to be the case.  My firm recently prevailed in a Neutral Evaluation in which we represented two sellers from outside of the United States, one of which was based in China.  

一些卖家担心这个程序会对他们有偏见，或者对美国以外尤其是中国的卖家有偏见，但事实似乎并非如此。我所最近代表两个美国以外的卖家在一次中立评估程序中获胜，其中一个卖家就是来自于中国。

All in all, the Neutral Evaluation proceeding appears to be a quick and cost-effective way to resolve patent disputes arising from third-party listings, which benefits both patent owners and Amazon sellers.

总而言之，在解决第三方listings引发的专利纠纷方面，这种中立的评估程序似乎是一种快速而经济的方式，它对专利权人和亚马逊卖家而言都有好处。

For more information, contact:

Mark J. Rosenberg | Intellectual Property partner

212.216.1127

mrosenberg@tarterkrinsky.com