Use of Third-Party ASIN Number Infringes Trademark Law

ASIN numbers play a crucial role in managing products on Amazon. The correct ASIN not only helps products be found more easily by buyers but also protects against counterfeiting.

The term ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number and is unique to each product offered for sale on Amazon. Amazon uses the ASIN for easy identification and grouping of products that are considered the same product.

Trademark Infringement by Attaching to Foreign ASINs

The Düsseldorf Regional Court has ruled that the use of foreign Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASIN) constitutes trademark infringement. According to the ruling, the identification number is considered a protected trademark.

In this case, a seller offered mobile phone cases on Amazon FBA under a brand registered to her. Each product had been assigned an individual ASIN by Amazon. She later discovered that a competitor was offering different mobile phone cases under the same ASIN on Amazon internationally, which did not correspond to the branded goods.

The Düsseldorf Regional Court subsequently classified the competitor’s offers as trademark infringement because they misled about the commercial origin of the offered mobile phone cases, creating the impression that the competitor’s mobile phone cases originated from the brand owner’s operation (see also: LG Düsseldorf, judgment of 20.01.2014, Az. 2a O 58/13).

The appeal against this decision is pending before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court under the file number I-20 U 92/14.