According to its own statement, Amazon is pursuing the goal of becoming the most customer-friendly company in the world. Among other things, you can therefore benefit from the Benefit from Amazon brand registration.
In order to protect customers on its marketplace from counterfeits and to make it easier for brand owners to control their own brand products, Amazon has for some time made it possible to register your own brand via the Brand Registry. Unfortunately, registration with a trademark and patent office is often not enough to protect your own brand from counterfeits or offers with misleading information on online marketplaces.
Zwar besteht das Recht, bei Markenrechtsverletzungen Unterlassungsansprüche bzw. Schadensersatzansprüche geltend zu machen, jedoch gestaltet es sich schwierig, entsprechende Fälschungen und Fehlinformationen im Internet ausfindig zu machen. Schlechte Erfahrungen der Kunden fallen in einem solchen Fall meist negativ auf die Marke zurück. Inwiefern die Amazon Markenregistrierung dem entgegenwirken kann, welche Voraussetzungen gelten und wie du eine eigene Marke anmelden kannst, erfährst du in diesem Beitrag. Wenn du Unterstützung benötigst bei der Markenregistrierung, kannst du uns als Amazon Agency commission.
Requirements for Amazon trademark registration
The requirements refer to the current status as of July 2023.
Registered trademark
The most important requirement for registration with the Amazon Brand Registry is an active trademark registered with an official trademark office. The office responsible for trademark registration in Germany is the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA).
Registrations are accepted in state trademark offices in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, India, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.the European Union, Benelux, Turkey, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Poland, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. (as of July 2023)
Tip: You can also register your trademark with Amazon if it has not yet been registered with your local trademark office.
Text or image-based trademark
Text-based and image-based trademarks with words, letters or numbers are suitable for registration on Amazon, but not purely figurative trademarks. It is necessary that the registered brand name matches the one registered with the Brand Registry. Furthermore, it must be possible to identify yourself as the owner of the trademark.
The difference between a text-based and image-based brand with words.
Brand on product / packaging
In addition, the products and packaging sold under the brand name must bear the brand name or logo in a clearly visible manner. Images illustrating this must be provided during registration.
Seller or Vendor Central account
In addition, a Seller or Vendor Central account must exist or be created prior to registration. However, this does not necessarily mean that you have to sell the brand's products yourself. When registering a brand in the Brand Registry, you must also list the product categories in which your brand is to be offered.
4 Advantages of the Amazon trademark application
If you register your brand with Amazon, this has Advantages.
Customer and brand protection
Brand registration on Amazon offers a number of options for counteracting counterfeits and misinformation relating to your own brand. In this way, both brands and customers are protected. What exactly this protection looks like is explained below.
- Use search tools: After registering your own brand with the Amazon Brand Registry, you can access search tools that can locate content from Amazon websites worldwide. You can search using terms, ASIN lists or even images. This makes it much easier to detect trademark infringements
- Report violations: Trademark infringements can then be reported in a simple process. According to Amazon, 95% of these reports are checked within eight hours and dealt with accordingly
- Automatic protection: Based on the information you disclose about your brand, Amazon automatically removes possible violations and incorrect content. The more information is disclosed, the more comprehensively Amazon can protect the brand
- Fewer violations: According to Amazon, registered trademarks report on average 99% fewer potential infringements than before the introduction of trademark registration
- Write permissions: As the owner of the brand, you receive the highest writing rights for the product detail pages of your brand products. This gives you control over the title, bullet points and product description and allows you to actively counteract false or misleading content if your brand is (additionally) distributed by other sellers
- Support: Amazon's brand registration support is available around the clock worldwide
Additional content
Another major advantage of Amazon brand registration is the additional options for displaying products belonging to the brand.
Enhanced Brand Content
Anyone selling a registered brand on Amazon has the option of replacing the standard product description with Enhanced Brand Content. In this way, the product description can be expanded to include more appealing content such as additional product images or comparison tables in addition to text. You can find information and tips on using EBC in the article on Creation of Amazon A+ content.
Amazon Brand Store
It is also possible to create a store for your own brand on Amazon. If customers click on the brand name on a product detail page, they usually receive a list of products from this brand. However, if a brand store has been set up, customers will be redirected to it. There you can showcase the special features of your brand and the associated products in the best possible way. Creating such a store is very simple and offers several advantages. For more information and detailed instructions, you can read the article on the Creation of an Amazon Brand Store view.
Advertising
Brands registered via the Brand Registry can take advantage of another advertising opportunity - Sponsored Brand Ads. Formerly known as Headline Search Ads, the ads show three similar articles of a brand based on a search query. These are placed prominently above the search results. In this post you can find out everything you need to know about Sponsored Brand Ads. The following image shows such an ad.
Amazon Vine
In addition, products of a brand registered with the Amazon Brand Registry may qualify for the Amazon Vine program. Customers who provide particularly trustworthy and helpful reviews can be invited to join the Amazon Vine program. Amazon sellers can now also participate in the program with qualified products and provide these products to reviewers free of charge. After receiving the goods, the reviewers write corresponding product reviews. Important to know: Reviewers are not obligated to write a review despite participating in the Vine program.
In addition to brand registration, the following criteria must also be met for a product to qualify for Amazon Vine:
- Product has less than 30 product reviews
- Condition of the product is "new"
- Shipping by Amazon (FBA)
- No erotic articles
- No additional product necessary
- Images, title, bullet points and description available
With Amazon Vine, Amazon offers new products with few or no reviews the opportunity to receive initial reviews and thus increase visibility and trust in the product on the part of customers. Vine was long reserved for participants in the Vendor Program, but since December 2019 sellers of registered brands have also been able to benefit from Amazon Vine.
Tip: Here you can find more information about Amazon Vine and instructions on how to participate in the program with a product.
Amazon brand registration: instructions in 6 steps
Next, you will find out how to register your brand with Amazon and what you need to bear in mind.
Step 1 - Check requirements
First, check whether you meet the above requirements for registering your own brand with Amazon. This will prevent you from going through the process for nothing. You should also have the following information to hand:
- The protected brand name
- The corresponding state trademark registration number
- If image-based, a high-resolution image of the brand
- The product categories in which the brand should be listed
- The countries in which the branded products are manufactured and distributed
Step 2 - Register/Login
Call up the page of the Amazon Brand Registry and log in there with your Seller or Vendor Central access data. If you do not yet have an Amazon account, you will need to create one first. Once you are logged in, the following screen should appear.
When registering for the first time, the box on the left is of course still empty. Click on "Register a new brand" to start the registration process.
Step 3 - Brand information
First, information about the brand is requested, as shown in the following illustration. As already mentioned, the products and packaging must bear the brand name or logo. If "no" is selected, a corresponding message will appear. If you would like to register more than 10 brands, you will be informed that after the first registration you will receive an e-mail with information about the collective registration of the remaining brands. The brand name to be registered must then be entered.
Step 4 - Intellectual property
The next step is about intellectual property. Here you must specify whether it is a word mark or a word/figurative mark. Pure figurative marks are not suitable for registration. The brand name is automatically copied from the previous form. The trademark number and the responsible trademark office must also be entered. If it is a word/figurative mark, a high-resolution image of the mark must be uploaded.
Step 5 - Features
Some characteristics of the brand are queried here. First, Amazon wants to know whether the products have an ISBN, EAN, UPC or other GTIN. If "no" is selected, the following message appears: "If you sell on Amazon and do not have a GTIN for your products, you must apply for a GTIN exemption unless your products fall into a category that does not require GTINs. This will not affect an application for trademark registration, but will affect your ability to offer products as a seller." If "yes" is selected, one or more category(ies) must be specified in which the brand's products are to be sold.
Optionally, other online platforms on which the brand is sold can be specified for identification purposes. If there is a seller or retailer relationship between the brand and Amazon, you can enter the corresponding email address. If both exist, enter both email addresses.
If your brand also manufactures the products, an additional question will appear asking whether your brand sells to retailers. If you answer "yes" again, you will be asked whether these retailers sell on Amazon. Next, you will be asked whether your brand licenses trademarks to third parties who manufacture products associated with your intellectual property. If you answer "yes" here, you will be asked whether your licensees sell on Amazon.
Finally, the countries or regions in which the brand's products are manufactured and where they are sold must be specified. The application for registration can then be sent off.
Step 6 - Verification
Amazon will then get in touch with you or the contact responsible for the brand to verify the contact. Once this is done, the person will receive a verification code that must be sent back to Amazon to complete the registration.
Note: After registration, an application for additional authorized representatives for the trademark can be filed if desired. In addition, the registration should be repeated if a trademark meets the requirements and was already registered before April 30, 2017.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Amazon brand registration take?
If you register a brand with Amazon, you can check the processing status at any time in the Brand Registry via the case log. Allow up to two weeks until your Amazon brand is registered and you can take advantage of the benefits.
How much does it cost to register a trademark with Amazon?
Trademark registration with Amazon is generally free of charge. However, in order to meet the requirements, you must have registered a trademark with a trademark register such as the DPMA. The trademark registration fee is around 300 euros for three classes. Each additional class costs an additional 100 euros (as of July 2023). If you have already registered a trade mark, there are no additional costs for you.
Conclusion: Use the free Amazon brand registration
Ultimately, the Amazon trademark registration process is neither difficult nor particularly time-consuming. But it does offer some advantages. Brand owners benefit from increased control over their own brand's products. They can identify and report trademark infringements more easily. Furthermore, additional content and advertising opportunities improve the visibility of your own brand on Amazon. If you have the option of registering your brand with Amazon, it is therefore advisable to do so and take advantage of the benefits.
