About the Temporary Restraining Order FAQ

The sales of all kinds of counterfeit products that infringe intellectual property rights are prohibited on Wish. Such behavior not only violates the relevant regulations on Wish, but also could expose the merchants to serious legal risks. The brand owners might initiate lawsuits against the merchants for selling infringing products. In these lawsuits, courts might grant a brand owner a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). Regarding the Temporary Restraining Order, please note that:

1. The TRO issued by the court might require that (a) the merchant stop all violations and infringing business activities, (b) the trading platform restrict, suspend, or ban the merchant or some of its listings, and (c) the merchant account be frozen. In some cases, the court may require the platform to suspend a merchant’s entire account suspension and/or withhold all payments from that whole account and not just take action related to the infringing products.

2. If the accused merchant does not appear in the hearing or hire a lawyer to defend for itself, this lawsuit could have a major impact on the merchant’s business. Counsel for the brand owner might also obtain a default judgment against the merchant, and it is possible that Wish will be ordered to

- Disable the merchant’s store

- Provide the payment information of the merchant and/or

- Transfer some or all the money in the merchant account to the brand owner

Wish therefore notes that the merchant might want to contact a lawyer immediately, study the lawsuit, and prepare for defense.

3.   Wish is not any of the parties in the lawsuit, Wish can not provide the merchant any legal advice, and the actions Wish takes regarding these cases are based on the requirements of the TRO from the court. The merchant therefore might want to seek independent legal advice from other parties and/ or contact the lawyer/ representative of the brand owner directly.

4.   If the merchant wins the lawsuit or reaches a settlement with the brand owner, Wish will receive confirmation from the brand owner’s attorneys. After reviewing the confirmation, Wish will then work to unfreeze the merchant store and release the funds as permitted by the settlement or court order. Depending on the terms of any settlement, certain product listings might be disabled or removed, and the merchant still might be subject to certain fines for listing products that the court found to be infringing.

Once again Wish reminds merchants that you should check product listings carefully to ensure they do not violate other parties’ intellectual property or other rights. If a merchant receives a Temporary Restraining Order(TRO), Wish suggests that you might consider following some of the processes noted above.