Protecting Your Brand – Amazon’s Brand Registry Program

Trademarks are a useful tool for brand protection. As the e-commerce market becomes a more significant means of buying and selling goods, it is imperative that business owners protect their brands from third-party competitors. Amazon, the leading e-commerce marketplace, has introduced a variety of trademark protection tools to businesses and individuals seeking to sell their goods on the Amazon platform.

Trademark Protection Tools: Brand Registry

Debuted by Amazon in 2017, Brand Registry is a program designed to help brand owners protect their trademarks. Brand Registry offers protection to brand owners with word or design marks on the Principal Register. Once a member of the Brand Registry, brand owners are able to report claims of infringement directly to Amazon. The program also utilizes artificial intelligence to assist in detecting products that potentially infringe upon brand owners’ trademarks and in preventing these products from appearing in Amazon’s stores. The implementation of this feature resulted in notices of infringement decreasing by 25% and the total number of brand owners enrolled in the Brand Registry program increasing by 40% to over 700,000 from 2020 to 2021.

Amazon also uses its Brand Registry Program to prevent the fraudulent use of registered trademarks on its platform. Amazon receives information about trademark registration status and parties who have been subject to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) sanctions directly from the USPTO. In 2021, Amazon was able to prevent 2,000 attempts at registering fraudulent trademarks in the Brand Registry Program.

Brand Registry may also offer protection to brand owners with unregistered, pending marks in any of the trademark offices of the 21 partner countries, including the United States.

Key Takeaways

Brand Registry helps to protect brand owners from brand infringement, counterfeit goods, and damaging listings. Importantly, Brand Registry provides brand owners with an easier and more efficient path to handle trademark disputes with third parties than traditional means (e.g., court settlement). Brand owners are strongly encouraged to seek the counsel of an independent trademark attorney to ensure that they receive the greatest protection for their brand.

Buchanan IP has a talented bench of attorneys who can assist and advise on trademark matters including, Amazon’s Brand Registry tool and applying for trademark protection at the USPTO.