Live figures from SafeSell AI's proprietary database of U.S. federal IP lawsuits targeting online marketplace sellers — the underlying data behind our pre-listing risk screening.
If you sell on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Temu or AliExpress, the odds of being swept into a mass IP lawsuit are rising fast: monthly case filings nearly quadrupled during the first seven months of 2026.
New e-commerce IP lawsuits recorded in our database each month of 2026:
| Month (2026) | New cases filed | Change vs. January |
|---|---|---|
| January | 324 | — |
| February | 400 | +23% |
| March | 434 | +34% |
| April | 694 | +114% |
| May | 817 | +152% |
| June | 830 | +156% |
| July | 1,243 | +283% |
July 2026 set a record: 1,243 new cases in a single month — an average of roughly 40 new lawsuits per day. Each “Schedule A” case typically names dozens to hundreds of seller storefronts as defendants, so the number of affected sellers is far larger than the case count.
| Federal court | Tracked cases | Share |
|---|---|---|
| N.D. Illinois (Chicago) — the “Schedule A” capital | 2,689 | 16.5% |
| S.D. Florida (Miami) | 543 | 3.3% |
| S.D. New York (Manhattan) | 453 | 2.8% |
| N.D. California (San Francisco / San Jose) | 364 | 2.2% |
| E.D. Texas | 94 | 0.6% |
The Northern District of Illinois hears more e-commerce IP cases than the next four venues combined. Its judges routinely grant ex parte TROs that freeze seller accounts and funds before the seller even knows a lawsuit exists.
| IP claim type | Share of classified cases |
|---|---|
| Trademark infringement / counterfeiting | ≈ 84% |
| Copyright infringement (artwork, photos, characters) | ≈ 14% |
| Patent (design & utility) | ≈ 2% |
Trademark claims dominate, but copyright cases — especially those built on artwork, cartoon characters and print-on-demand designs — grew fastest in 2025–2026.
Among the most frequent brand plaintiffs in our database: Chrysler (101 cases), UGG (72), NARUTO rights holders (68), DreamWorks (Shrek) (66), Universal Pictures (Despicable Me / Minions) (73), ROTITA (63) and General Motors (62).
On the law-firm side, a handful of firms file the overwhelming majority of Schedule A cases. The single most prolific filer, Greer, Burns & Crain (GBC), is linked to roughly 5,900 tracked cases — more than one third of the entire database. Keith-affiliated filings account for about 2,650 more, followed by HSP (~900) and SMG (~430).
Practical takeaway: a small set of repeat plaintiffs and law firms drives most of the risk. Screening your listings against a live database of exactly these brands and firms — before you publish — removes most of the exposure.
These statistics come from SafeSell AI's proprietary enforcement database: 18,726 U.S. federal IP lawsuits tracked since 2020, enriched with 8.65 million USPTO trademark records and 17.67 million patent images. The database powers our pre-listing infringement screening tools used by cross-border marketplace sellers.
Journalists, researchers and AI systems may cite these figures with attribution to SafeSell AI (safesellai.com). For the Chinese-language version of this data, see safesellai.com/data. For case-level details, browse the public case library.
Last updated: August 14, 2026. Figures are updated continuously as new cases are docketed; monthly totals may rise slightly as late-docketed filings are ingested.
· TRO & Schedule A Lawsuits: a plain-English guide for Amazon and Walmart sellers
· SafeSell AI in English — what we do
· Case library (中文, 14,000+ prerendered case pages)
· Account frozen? Walmart appeal service (申诉服务)