Brands selling on Amazon can find it challenging to manage their presence in the marketplace. Even businesses which are not selling directly on Amazon will commonly see their products listed by third-party sellers. The best available solution recommended for all brands managing products on Amazon is enrolment into Amazon’s Brand Registry service. This enables sellers to protect their products from counterfeiters and control the brand experience for customers.

What is Brand Registry?

The Brand Registry programme is created to identify brand owners to Amazon, enabling businesses to protect their intellectual property and product content on the marketplace.

The programme has a dedicated specialist team that brand owners can contact to report IP infringement, policy violations, listing issues, technical problems, and escalate any previously submitted cases. Brand Registry also unlocks additional marketing programmes such as Storefronts and Enhanced Brand Content.

Enrolment in Brand Registry

Sellers can sign-up directly on Amazon. After selecting the option to enrol, sellers will be presented with the option to choose one of 12 countries in which they wish to sell products. The countries which are currently available include the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, India, or Australia.

The requirements for enrolment will vary depending on the country, however, all sellers are required to have:

• An active, registered trademark in the country which your product or packaging appears;

• The ability to verify the ownership of the rights through the public contact listed on the trademark registration; and

• An Amazon Seller Central or Vendor Central account.

Sellers should also note that the trademark must be a text-based, or image-based mark which contains text. Symbols without text are not accepted. Additional information such as a list of product categories that should be used for listings, and information about the countries used for manufacturing and distributing the products, should also be included. Following a successful submission, sellers are approved within 24 hours, but this can vary depending on the availability of Amazon teams.

International registry for seller accounts

Amazon requires sellers to apply separately for each country that offers registry, and therefore to enrol sellers should note that details must be provided for the country’s trademark office, and European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for EU countries, that the brand was registered with. Each office’s terminology for text-based, and image-based trademarks should be listed to verify the correct type of registration. 

The benefits of Brand Registry

Brand Registry provides businesses with greater control over listings, dedicated internal support teams, brand monitoring tools, access to a wider range of marketing programmes, and the ability to grant agents access to Brand Registry tools.

The internal Amazon teams can provide support with submitting IP infringement claims, reporting violations such as manipulated or inaccurate “not as described” violations, and reporting listing issues like incorrect information, variations, and appeals for blocked listings.

While Amazon Brand Registry does offer better support for IP owners, it should be noted that it does not prevent other sellers from offering items that compete with the listings from the brand. Instead, the features are designed to stop competitors from changing content on listings, report and retract IP infringement, fix listing issues quickly, and showcase branded content.

Understanding the limitations of Brand Registry

With Brand Registry, product listing changes are now restricted and can only be changed by the registered brand, Amazon Retail listing contributions from Vendor Central, or a Brand Registry team. Any incorrect adjustments can be submitted as a listing issue in Brand Registry Support.

However, this provides no additional control over the distribution of products on the marketplace. Amazon does not restrict who is able to sell a brand and does not offer control over unauthorized resellers.

Finding and reporting brand infringements

Instead, it is recommended that brands report all possible infringements as Amazon uses an automated algorithm to automatically flag unauthorised trademark listings, images or logos, as well as sellers shipping products outside countries that the brand is manufactured and distributed. Over time this will contribute to Amazon spotting these issues before they arise.

A separate brand gating programme is available to sellers looking to restrict third-party sellers. It enables an enforced application process which can require items such as supplier invoices, authorisation letters, and a substantial fee.

Summary

Although the Brand Registry programme does still require improvements to offer complete control over products, it is highly recommended for brands that are eligible for enrolment. The additional seller support, marketing tools, and control over IP are advantageous for controlling who has access to selling products thereby protecting sales and branding.

More information about the specifications for enrolment in Brand Registry can be found on the official Amazon website. For more guidance about setting up your trademark, managing product listings, and creating storefronts, get in touch with one of our specialists.