Since Amazon was founded, the company has been guided by the idea of pioneering a pro-customer approach to e-commerce - both in terms of offering consumers the most comprehensive product catalogue, taking care of the overall customer experience, and protecting the interests of customers by taking care of the quality and authenticity of products offered on the marketplace in both the 1P and 3P models. At the same time, this means providing companies deciding to trade in Amazon stores with a safe environment for scaling sales, in which they will not have to compete with dishonest entities.
As disclosed in its fourth annual Amazon report, the company continued its brand protection activities in 2023 by investing over $1.2 billion and employing over 15,000 people - including machine learning scientists, programmers and forensic experts - whose task is to protect customers, brands, partners and the entire service from inauthentic products, fraud and other types of abuse.
Key Brand Protection Tools on Amazon
How does brand protection work? Focused on maintaining a fair environment for scaling sales for companies from around the world,
Amazon Marketplace offers Sellers a wide range of tools to protect their intellectual property. Let’s have a look at the most popular ones:
Amazon Brand Registry
Amazon Brand Registry (ABR) is a free brand registration service on Amazon, operating since 2017. It can be used by any Seller who is the official owner of the brand or a beneficiary of its rights. Registration in the ABR system is also one of the pro-sales activities – it allows you to more effectively manage your
brand and its development, for example by creating advertising campaigns such as
Sponsored Brands or setting up a dedicated brand store –
Amazon Brand Store. An additional advantage of registering a brand in the
Amazon Brand Registry program is access to the
Brand Analytics dashboard – the reports contained therein allow for a better understanding of current and future product performance. The seller will also find aggregated customer demographic data and popular search terms, which will allow for the optimization of listings.
How does the brand registration process in ABR work?
The basic information that Amazon requires from the seller is the brand name with an active
Trademark ID, a unique number assigned by the Patent Office. To obtain it, you must submit an official, paid application for the reservation of rights to a given brand. Currently, Amazon only accepts trademarks registered by specific state institutions and the EUIPO (
European Union Intellectual Property Office).
Unlike national offices, which provide protection only within one country, a certificate issued by the EUIPO guarantees brand protection in all 27 EU countries. When registering a trademark in the
Amazon Brand Registry system, the seller is required to send photos of the product and its packaging with the brand name and EAN code visible.
What requirements must be met to register a brand in the Amazon Brand Registry? Here is a detailed list of the steps you need to take:
Meeting the qualification requirements:
- You must have an active trademark of your brand in text or graphic form (logo with text) registered with one of the patent offices accepted by Amazon, such as the European Union Patent Office (EUIPO), the United States Patent Office (USPTO) or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Having an Amazon Seller or Vendor account:
- You must have an account on Amazon as a Seller or Vendor.
Gathering the required information:
- Brand name that is identical to the name on the registered trademark.
- Registration number or trademark application number.
- Category list products in which the brand is to be used.
- List of countries in which the products are manufactured and distributed.
Submitting an application:
- Log in to your Amazon Seller or Vendor account.
- Visit the Amazon Brand Registry website.
- Follow the instructions on the website to submit an application, filling out all required fields and uploading the necessary documents.
Waiting for verification:
- Once you submit your application, Amazon will verify your application, which will take a few business days. Verification involves checking that the information you have submitted matches the trademark you have filed.
Brand Registry Benefits Activation:
Upon successful verification, your brand will be registered in the
Amazon Brand Registry. This will allow you to benefit from additional brand management tools on the platform, trademark protection, and access to advanced advertising and analytics tools.
Stay up-to-date:
Please note that using the
Amazon Brand Registry program may also require periodic updates and reconfirmation to maintain your brand registration status and benefits.
What are the benefits of registering your brand in the Amazon Brand Registry?
The program offers a number of benefits to registered trademark owners that help increase brand control and potentially shorten the path to success on Amazon. Here are the key benefits of participating in ABR:
Brand Protection:
- A registered brand trademark provides advanced brand protection tools that help combat counterfeiting and fraudulent use of your trademark. Amazon actively scans product listings and images to ensure they are not being sold under a false brand.
Product Content Management:
- With Brand Registry, sellers can gain more control over the product pages that use their brand. This means that descriptions, images, and other information about items can be more closely aligned with brand standards, resulting in more consistent and professional product presentations.
Advanced Marketing Tools:
- Program members have access to exclusive marketing tools, such as Sponsored Brands and Amazon Brand Stores. These allow you to create personalized advertising campaigns and dedicated store pages that can differentiate products from the competition.
Data Analytics and Reporting:
- Amazon Brand Registry offers access to detailed analytics and reports on brand performance. Users can analyse how consumers find and interact with their products, which can help optimize sales strategies.
Protection against abuse:
- The program allows you to more easily report intellectual property infringements, such as unauthorized use of registered trademarks or the sale of counterfeit products. Amazon supports brand owners in quickly addressing and resolving these issues.
Improved visibility in search results:
- Products reported to the Amazon Brand Registry often receive greater visibility in search results, which can translate into higher rankings and increased sales.
Access to new features and tools:
- Amazon regularly develops new features and tools available exclusively to Amazon Brand Registry members, allowing for continuous improvement and innovation in brand management in Amazon stores.
As Amazon reports in its “2023 Brand Protection Report,” since 2020, while the number of products available for sale in Amazon stores has been steadily growing, there has been a more than 30% decrease in the total number of infringement notices filed by brands. In 2023, Amazon helped identify, seize, and dispose of more than 7 million counterfeit products worldwide. This way, it prevented them from being released for general sale.
Intellectual Property (IP) Accelerator
IP Accelerator supports SMEs in effectively obtaining intellectual property rights, thus offering their owners a trusted and affordable way to protect their brands.
IP Accelerator makes it easier for entrepreneurs to access the Brand Registry. As we read in Amazon’s “Brand Protection Report 2023”,
Intellectual Property Accelerator has already helped over 15,000 brands obtain trademark protection, supporting business owners from 38 countries through a network of trusted law firms specializing in intellectual property law.
Project Zero
Project Zero is Amazon’s proprietary system used to catch attempts to sell non-original products of a given brand. It operates based on automated security used to monitor and scan product serial numbers. By sending your logo and brand name to Amazon as part of the
Amazon Brand Registry, the system will catch any attempt to update and add offers for a counterfeit product and then block it. As many as 8 billion offer updates are scanned daily. Sellers using the
Project Zero program also have the option to remove a suspicious offer themselves, without having to contact Amazon
support.
According to the Brand Protection Report 2023, Project Zero has enabled over 25,000 brands to use automated security to proactively block violations and the ability to immediately remove suspicious offers to actively prevent the sale of counterfeit products in Amazon stores.
Transparency Badge
In 2022, Amazon introduced the so-called Transparency Badge. This is a confirmation for consumers that a given product has been verified by Amazon before shipping. The badge is placed on the product card in the detailed information section. Thanks to it, the credibility of the product and trust in the Seller significantly increases. It is worth mentioning that currently only 33% of Sellers can boast the
Transparency badge. This makes it an important quality differentiator against the competition.
As we read in the “Amazon Brand Protection Report” from 2023, over 1.6 billion products, reported by over 47 thousand brands selling in Amazon stores, have already been verified using a special, single-use code.
Educating consumers about the dangers of buying counterfeit products
Amazon’s commitment to educating consumers about the dangers that may result from buying counterfeit products.
We do all we can to make Amazon customers feel safe when shopping in our store. No one wants to be taken advantage of, which is why we provide our trading partners with the necessary tools to protect their brands. However, we always encourage customers to choose only original products. For us, the issue of responsibility is a priority. Hence, a number of actions and system tools, but also educational initiatives – points out Katarzyna Ciechanowska-Ciosk, manager of the Amazon.pl store.
For safe e-shopping
In turn, Agnieszka Plencler, president of the Consumer Forum, emphasizes:
One of the tasks of the Consumer Forum Foundation is education in the field of intellectual property protection and promoting safe e-shopping for consumers. We are aware that fighting counterfeits is a huge challenge that is difficult to cope with alone as it requires the cooperation of many stakeholders.
However, knowing how important it is to inform customers about counterfeits and the dangers associated with buying them, we are constantly conducting a number of activities as part of consumer education, such as the nationwide campaign “Live Originally! Counterfeit Products. Counterfeit Style”, organized, among others, in cooperation with Amazon.
Do you want to start selling on Amazon? Take part in a special webinar organized in cooperation between Amazon, Gonito and Amavat. You will learn about the characteristics of VAT settlements in various logistics models. You’ll also create a detailed case study of a brand that has achieved sales success.
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