The Amazon Brand Registry is a way to protect your brand on Amazon. In the US, if you have a registered trademark, you can inform Amazon and prevent anyone except you from using your brand there. Trademark registration and subsequent brand registration on Amazon is the best way to protect your product listings from hijackers.
The Amazon Brand Registry helps brand owners fight counterfeit products on Amazon.
What should you know about Amazon Brand Registry Program
It provides access to:
- powerful tools including proprietary text and image search,
- predictive automation based on your reports of suspected intellectual property rights violations
- increased authority over product listings with your brand name.
- Amazon Brand Registry helps you protect your registered trademarks on Amazon.
After enrolling their brand on Amazon.com, brand owners and amazon sellers can expedite the process of removing a counterfeit or inauthentic product from a listing because they can easily prove to Amazon that they own the brand.
Counterfeit listings are an extremely common problem for popular brands or sellers with higher sales velocity.
Amazon Brand Registry Program won’t keep counterfeiters away, but it will make it easier to remove them.
Do you need a trademark to sell on Amazon?
You don't NEED a registered trademark to sell. But it helps to earn more and build a sustainable business.
Amazon Brand Registry Benefits
- it allows owners to control listing description of their products, including product titles, product details, product images
- it enables owners to file complaints against counterfeits
- it allows owners to get responses to infringement claims more quickly and reliably than non-registered sellers
- It allows expediting the process of removing a counterfeit product
- List products without UPCs or EANs.
- It will reduce matching errors
Who qualifies for Brand Registry?
- Manufacturers
- Private label brand owners
- White label products producers
- Distributors with licensed trademarks
- Agents of a brand
Who does not qualify?
Sellers of Books, Media, Video, DVD, BMVD and Entertainment Collectibles/Sports Collectibles
Registration Requirements
Government Registered Principal Trademark Registration or Serial Number. For USPTO marks, the Mark Drawing Type must be equal to one of the following and the text must match the brand name:
- “1 - TYPESET WORD(S)/LETTER(S)/NUMBER(S)”
- “3 - AN ILLUSTRATION DRAWING WHICH INCLUDES WORD(S), LETTER(S)/NUMBER(S)”
- “4 - STANDARD CHARACTER MARK”
- “5 - WORDS, LETTERS, OR NUMBERS IN A STYLIZED FORM”
Basically, your trademark must contain words which match the brand name. You can't use a trademark which contains no words or if the words do not match your brand name.
How to enroll on Amazon Brand Registry
- A live registered trademark.
- The mark must comply with the requirements mentioned above
- You will need a US trademark on Amazon.com, a UK mark on Amazon.co.uk, and so on.
- Images of the brand’s logo.
- Registration must be issued by government patent and trademark offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
- A list of product categories in which the brand should be listed
- Images of products and packaging that carry the trademarked brand name.
- A list of countries where the brand’s products are manufactured and distributed.
- Link to an active website that displays your brand or products.
- Unique key attribute. An existing product identifier for branded products. When the brand is accepted, it will need to provide a unique value for this attribute for each branded product.
Where to get a registered trademark?
You can use Amazon Brand Registry Service. https://brandservices.amazon.com/
Costs to Register (This is an EST it can change anytime)
- USA - $459
- UK - $399
- India - $319
- European Union - $1299
- Japan - $569
- Canada - $599
- Mexico - $569
FAQ
Where to report alleged intellectual property infringements?
How does Amazon Brand Registry Program work?
You need to open this link: https://services.amazon.com/brand-registry.html and start the process online. You will be asked your account details and the registration number of your trademark and once all the information is submitted and reviewed, your brand will be covered. This will allow you to protect your brand on Amazon.
Why is this important?
On Amazon, anyone can be listed as a seller of anything. Even as a seller of a product which is produced by you. Therefore, anyone can claim that he is selling an identical product for less, stealing your clients and tarnishing your brand. This will potentially destroy your brand and the efforts you invested in it and Amazon Brand Registry is the only available solution to protect your mark.
What if I don't have the registration number?
The registration number is issued by a Trademark Office. It's a governmental organization which handles Intellectual Property (trademarks, patents, copyrights). In the US, the organization is USPTO. To get your trademark, you can start the registration process - here! The official procedure takes a rather long time to complete (up to 9 months) and you should start the process as soon as possible in order to get your brand protected on Amazon. Your trademark will be registered for 10 years.
Is there any additional price?
There is no extra price for using Amazon Brand Registry, however, your brand should be registered as a trademark in the US. This costs US$499 for 10 years. More details here.
Do I need it if I don't sell on Amazon?
No, in this case, you don't have to use Amazon Brand Registry. However, you still can register your trademark to have a monopoly over it for 10 years in the US or in any other country of your interest.
Do they accept trademarks registered abroad?
Currently, Amazon accepts UK trademarks on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.jp and other Amazon portals. A United States trademark can be used on any Amazon portal. However, we recommend filing a local trademark application once your business is big enough. This will allow you to use legal tools to fight counterfeit.