"From" specification on Amazon constitutes trademark use

In the opinion of the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart, the "from" specification displayed within each product description on Amazon below the product title constitutes a trademark designation, so that the use of a product description presupposes that the offered product also originates from the trademark proprietor.

The same is not simply the same on Amazon. Even if a marketplace seller wishes to sell the exact same (no-name) product for which a product description already exists, he is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, prevented from using it if the "from" specification refers to a third-party mark.

As the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart correctly decided in a reasoned order of 12.09.2013 (17 O 1263/13), a trademark infringement exists if the "from" specification contains an existing trademark. This limits the use of the product description, because it can only be used to offer products that originally come from the trademark proprietor. This applies even if the proprietor itself has purchased or imported these products as mass-market goods and now sells them under itsmark.

One may certainly debate what other significance the "from" specification may have. However, the linking with a list of products bearing the same specification demonstrates that it is at least a trademark use when a mark is employed. The Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart has also taken this view and has issued the requested preliminary injunction.

This does not, however, automatically exclude infringements if a product description is used whose "from" specification does not contain a trademark but otherwise provides a clear indication of the product's origin from a particular undertaking. Origin should be understood in the sense of source, not necessarily in the sense of "manufacture". An imported product also has its source with the importer, and is thus "from" the importer. If the importer is named in the "from" specification of the product description, it is at least misleading to use this description for items imported by another undertaking – even if they are identical goods. The only question is whether, in addition to theunfair competition infringement, a violation of the trade name itself is also to be assumed.