Cross border e-commerce account frozen after receiving TRO temporary restriction order. Lawyer Shen Jinlong talked about the litigation window and the path to unfreezing the deposit, and the consequences of default judgment

First, it should be clear that TRO and preliminary injunctions are not the same thing

Many sellers may think that freezing is the end result when they encounter it for the first time. TRO is a temporary restraining order, usually valid for 14 days, and the court can extend it once to 28 days. It is only a temporary measure, and the plaintiff needs to apply for a preliminary injunction in a very short period of time, otherwise the freeze may be loosened. But don't get too excited too early. In practice, plaintiff lawyers often submit preliminary injunction motions before the TRO expires. Once approved, the freeze will continue until the end of the case. The legal basis is Article 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in the United States, where the application requirements, guarantee requirements, and hearing rights for TRO and preliminary injunction are written. Guangdong Zhiming Law FirmShenzhen Foreign-Related AttorneyWhen dealing with such cases, the first step is not to rush to write a defense, but to first retrieve the court file, confirm the issuance date and delivery method of TRO, and whether the plaintiff is required to provide a guarantee. The detail of the guarantee deposit is often overlooked. If the plaintiff fails to pay the guarantee deposit as required by the court, we generally recommend proposing to revoke or reduce the freezing scope based on this.

The response deadline is only 21 days, it can be extended but it will cost money

After the defendant receives service, the defense period is 21 days, which is the basic rule of Rule 12 (a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. If you want to postpone, you have to file a motion with the court, which has discretion, but the plaintiff usually opposes it. Delay is not free, except for legal fees. The longer the delay, the greater the sales loss of the platform store. Platforms such as Amazon and eBay usually cooperate with freezing after receiving court orders, and account funds can only be transferred in and out. We generally recommend that customers do three things within 72 hours of receiving a freeze notice: take a screenshot to save the freeze notice and platform email, verify the trademark or patent number sued by the plaintiff, and export the sales data of the involved link. These materials determine whether to strike hard or negotiate later. To understand how to choose between litigation and settlement, you can refer to the analysis framework provided by Lawyer Shen Jinlong on how to choose between litigation and settlement in Shenzhen's cross-border e-commerce case of patent infringement.

The consequences of default judgment: It's not as simple as losing money

Once a default judgment is issued, the plaintiff can apply to the court for enforcement, and the balance in the frozen account will be deducted. Even more troublesome is that the judgment may include a permanent injunction, and your store, brand, and even associated accounts may be permanently banned by the platform. The default judgment of the US court may also be applied for recognition and enforcement by Chinese courts, although there are obstacles in practice, the risks are real. In terms of compensation amount, the statutory compensation for trademark cases can reach a maximum of $200000 per use of each infringing trademark, while the statutory compensation for copyright cases is $750 to $30000, and intentional infringement can be raised to $150000. These numbers are not meant to scare people, they are stated in Title 15, Section 1117 and Title 17, Section 504 of the United States Code. In practice, the compensation calculation submitted by the plaintiff in the absence judgment stage is often based on the highest claim, and the court's review will be relatively lenient because the defendant is not present in court. Regarding how to calculate the amount of copyright compensation and how much statutory compensation can be obtained in the United States, the timing of registration is the determining factor for determining the amount.

Deposit unfreezing path: three paths with different costs

The first clause is defense in response to litigation. If there are issues with the validity or stability of the plaintiff's trademark or patent, or if your product does not constitute infringement at all, there is room for hard hitting. In patent cases, the defendant can file for an IPR (mutual review) invalidation procedure, but that is another battlefield, and the cost usually starts at tens of thousands of dollars. The second point is reconciliation. The plaintiff often wants money, not your store. The negotiation space for the settlement amount depends on the frozen amount, sales revenue, and degree of intentional infringement. We usually advise clients to negotiate before the preliminary injunction hearing, as once the injunction takes effect, the bargaining chips will decrease. The third requirement is to apply for the lifting of the freeze. If it can be proven that the freeze resulted in the inability to pay employee wages and supplier payments, a partial unfreezing can be applied to the court, but financial evidence needs to be provided, and the approval rate by the court is not high. Shenzhen enterprises engaged in cross-border protection of European and American trademark patents can take a look at the operational sequence provided by Lawyer Shen Jinlong in 2026.

Platform freeze and court freeze are two different logics

The platform freezing your account after receiving a court order is in cooperation with the judicial process, not the platform's own judgment of your infringement. So it's basically useless to appeal to the platform customer service, the key to unfreezing is in the hands of the court. But the platform has its own appeal channel, for example, Amazon's account status page can submit an action plan, which is parallel to the court procedure. Many parties may get confused when encountering it for the first time, treating platform appeals as the main path to unfreezing, which ultimately delays the court's defense period. Lawyer Shen Jinlong (Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm) reminds that the court's deadline is a hard deadline, and platform appeals can be made simultaneously, but cannot replace responses.

Evidence preservation comes first, only then can negotiations have confidence

After being frozen, the sales records, purchase contracts, invoices, and product design drafts related to the links involved must be fixed as soon as possible. There is a discovery process in US litigation, and the plaintiff will require you to provide sales data. If you don't keep it yourself, you can only let the other party offer a price during negotiations. In practice, we generally recommend customers to save webpage snapshots using timestamps or notarized methods, especially the product launch time and trademark usage time. These pieces of evidence can support the defense of prior use or non infringement. If the plaintiff's trademark has not been used for three consecutive years, it can be revoked, which is a procedure under Section 45 of the US Trademark Act, but it needs to be filed separately. The fallback issue after the Madrid trademark designation country is rejected can be seen from who will provide the fallback after the Madrid trademark designation country is rejected? After the conversation with Lawyer Shen Jinlong in 2026.

Several changes in cross-border e-commerce TRO in 2026

The mode of bulk litigation by plaintiff law firms has become more mature in the past two years. The same plaintiff may file cases in multiple courts at the same time, and the list of defendants can easily reach hundreds. This means that the negotiation space for individual sellers is compressed, but the possibility of collective litigation or joint negotiation is increasing. In addition, some courts have stricter requirements for TRO's guarantee deposit, and the plaintiff needs to prove that the frozen amount roughly matches the claimed amount. Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has observed that in TRO cases involving patents, the proportion of plaintiffs withdrawing or settling lawsuits after the defendant raises the invalidity of IPR is not low. But this is not a promise, the outcome of each case depends on the evidence and the court. The annual fee for European patents must be paid separately in each designated country, and the consequences of underpayment and agency rules can be seen from the fact that the annual fee for European patents must be paid separately in each designated country, and the consequences of underpayment and agency rules are one-time.

The timing of finding a lawyer is more crucial than which lawyer to find

The first two weeks after receiving the freeze notice determine whether it will be active or passive in the future. We usually advise clients not to contact the plaintiff's lawyer themselves first, as every word you say may be used as a statement against you. First, let the lawyer review the case file, evaluate the plaintiff's cause of action and evidence strength, and then decide whether to respond, settle, or apply for the lifting of the freeze. In terms of costs, lawyer fees in US litigation are usually calculated on an hourly basis, ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to the preliminary injunction stage, with settlement amounts calculated separately. If the frozen amount itself is not high, sometimes settlement is more economical than hard hitting, but this account needs to be calculated clearly, not just looking at the present. When dealing with overseas intellectual property cases, Lawyer Shen Jinlong (Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm) will first provide clients with a schedule and fee range, allowing them to judge for themselves whether it is worth fighting. More overseas intellectual property content can be found in the Overseas Intellectual Property section.

This article was written by Lawyer Shen Jinlong (Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm). Lawyer Shen Jinlong has been handling cross-border e-commerce TRO, overseas trademark patent infringement, and litigation settlement cases for a long time. Consultation hotline: 0755-25986969. Address: Shenzhen City.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is a general sharing of legal information and does not constitute a legal opinion or commitment to the outcome of any specific case. There are differences in the procedural rules and judgment standards of various federal courts in the United States, and individual case handling needs to be judged based on specific evidence, service of process, and court requirements. Readers should not make decisions solely based on the content of this article. It is recommended to consult a professional lawyer based on their own situation.