Filing a Trademark for the Amazon Brand Registry
The Amazon Brand Registry enables you to more accurately represent your brand on Amazon. The Brand Registry allows you to more easily find and report trademark violations, and share information that helps Amazon proactively prevent violations. This article details more information on the Brand Registry program and how you can protect your trademark on Amazon and qualify for the Amazon Brand Registry.
Under the Amazon Brand Registry guidelines, sellers using the Amazon e-commerce platform are required to have a federal registered trademark in order to qualify for the Brand Registry and the enhanced trademark protections offered through the program. This means you must first apply for and obtain a federal trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in order to apply for the Amazon Brand Registry.
What is the benefit of the Amazon Brand Registry?
Amazon Brand Registry helps you to protect your registered trademarks on Amazon and create an accurate and trusted experience for your customers.
Enrollment in the Amazon Brand Registry provides access to powerful tools including proprietary text and image search for your trademark, predictive automation based on your reports of suspected intellectual property rights violations, and increased authority over product listings with your brand name.
Some of the preemptive benefits of submitting your trademark on Amazon include:
- Identifying product listings that incorrectly use your trademarked terms in their titles.
• Finding images that contain your logo, but are for products that don’t bear your trademark name.
• Alerting you to sellers shipping products from countries in which you do not manufacture or distribute your brand.
• Identifying product listings that contain your brand name when you have already listed your full product catalog on Amazon.
The Amazon Brand Registry empowers trademark owners and Amazon to work together to reduce potential intellectual property rights violations and promote an accurate representation of your brand on Amazon.
How to Get a Trademark on the Amazon Brand Registry
The first step to qualify for Amazon Brand Registry is to apply for federal trademark registration with the USPTO. There are certain requirements your trademark must meet in order to obtain registration.
Start with a Comprehensive Trademark Search
The first and most important step to protecting your trademark on Amazon is to start with a comprehensive trademark search. You cannot register a trademark that is the same as or similar to an existing trademark and used in connection with related goods. We offer a comprehensive trademark search of the USPTO trademark database, state trademark registrations, domain name registrations and common law uses (e.g., corporation and company names, doing business as names).
Your trademark may be a text mark (word mark) or an image mark (stylized logo mark). Your mark must be distinctive and qualify for registration on the Principal Register. Amazon will not accept marks registered on the Supplemental Register for enrollment in the Brand Registry.
Once the trademark search shows that your Amazon brand or trademark name is available and does not infringe on anyone else’s trademark rights, you can apply for federal trademark registration with the USPTO. A federal registered trademark gives you nationwide priority ownership rights in your brand name.
Filing a Federal Trademark Application
Following the trademark search, our attorneys will prepare and file your federal trademark application with the USPTO. You will receive a trademark serial number, which you can use to track the status of your application at any time. The USPTO application process takes approximately 8-12 months to obtain registration. Once your mark is registered, we will notify you and send you an electronic copy of your registered trademark certificate. Once registered, you may submit a request to Amazon for enrollment in the Brand Registry.
Amazon Brand Registry Verification Code
After you submit a request for enrollment in the Brand Registry, Amazon will send a request for a verification code to the representative or attorney of record listed on your trademark application to ensure proper ownership of the mark. Once you have initiated the request with Amazon, you may contact our office via email to request your verification code. Our law office will forward the verification code to you once received.
A Federal Trademark Registration Strengthens Your Rights
Having a federally registered trademark strengthens your intellectual property rights. Besides the rights conferred by U.S. trademark law, Amazon sellers can now use the Amazon Brand Registry to safeguard their trademark rights. This includes prohibiting the sale of counterfeit goods, and the sale of any products that have been illegally procured, replicated, reproduced, or manufactured.
Under the Amazon Brand Registry rules, only registered trademark owners are eligible for the added protections of the program. Since having a federally registered trademark creates a presumption of ownership in your favor, the Amazon Brand Registry is designed to minimize the amount of verification you need to prove ownership of your trademark or brand.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
If you have any questions about protecting your trademark on Amazon or submitting a trademark for the Amazon Brand Registry, please contact us for a complimentary consultation.
