Amazon Brand Registry is tightening requirements and testing a new tool to make it easier for brand owners to control their listings, win the Buy Box, and report infringements.
How does that affect you? Keep reading to find out.
UPDATE:
The Amazon Brand Registry tool is back up and running. As expected, you can only apply if you have a registered trademark that’s active. You’ll need to provide Amazon with your trademark registration number, your logo, photos of trademark name-bearing products and packaging, a list of manufacturing and distributing countries, and a list of chosen product categories. Sellers who had already registered before April 30, 2017 need to re-enroll in the program. For more information, please visit the Brand Registry page.
With the rise in the number of fake items being sold on Amazon, many sellers will be relieved to find that Amazon is ramping up the campaign against counterfeiters. Various sources report that they’re testing the Beta version of the Amazon Brand Registry tool.
If you’re a brand owner and you haven’t registered with Amazon yet, then this could mean more work for you. Here’s what you should know:
What is the Amazon Brand Registry?
In short, it’s an Amazon tool that provides brand owners the ability to personalize their product pages. It’s been around since 2015, when Amazon started cracking down on counterfeiters. More recently, Amazon decided to take it up a notch.
Who can register a brand?
Amazon Brand Registry applies to all traditional manufacturers, creators of hand-made and custom products, sellers who manufacture or distribute their own label products with the manufacturer’s authorization.
Why register your brand on Amazon?
The Amazon Brand Registry offers extra security for brands vulnerable to counterfeiting. Registering your brand means you have full control over your listings, and can report sellers who hijack your product page and change your product details.
To put things into perspective, registering your brand means:
- you alone own the Buy Box and the right to Enhanced Brand Content for your products;
- you’re free to ask Amazon to remove sellers trying to hijack your listings;
- ability to play around more with listed titles, descriptions, details, and images;
- you can use Amazon’s GCIDs (Global Catalogue Identifiers) instead of GS1’s GTIN barcodes;
- fewer matching errors during listing because product matching is better for GCIDs than ISBNs, UPCs, and EANs. And you’d only have one listing per product.
Will I be the only one selling this brand?
Brand registry gives you the ability to change the content on the product listing page. This helps you maximize the accuracy of your content on Amazon. It does not, however, prevent other merchants from selling alongside you.
Will this protect the content on the product page?
Once you’ve been approved, all of your product page content, except for the main product images, will be locked to your brand. Other people may add new information, but you alone will be able to change the existing content. However, Amazon does not give you any rights over the content itself, and you’re still liable for using other people’s intellectual property (e.g. slogans and taglines).
Will this stop other sellers from contributing to the descriptions?
No. However, you will be able to revert the listing and report them immediately. Also, sellers will still be able to contribute to the Customer Q&A section and comment on product reviews. It’s your responsibility to check that these contributions are accurate.
Can I register with several products?
If you qualify, then all of your products are eligible for brand registry and can be sold with any fulfillment channel. If their listings include a specific brand name and key attribute, then they’ll all be enrolled. The only exceptions are media items or entertainment and sports collectibles.
How do you register your brand?
To register your brand, you simply type ‘brand registry’ in the search box on the top right hand side of your Seller Central homepage. You access the page entitled ‘Amazon Brand Registry’, and click the ‘online application’ link.
What should you look out for?
The brand name field is case sensitive, so make sure you get it right the first time around. Also, if you already list your product on Amazon in a non-gated category, select that category when you apply to register your brand, even if you’re considering switching to a gated one at some point. Otherwise, your selling privileges would be restricted for all your products until you either ungate the category you selected, or choose an ungated one.
How long would it take to get approved?
It would take a couple of weeks for Amazon to grant you their approval, provided you gave them a link to your website, a letter of authorization from the manufacturer or brand owner, and photos of your products and packaging that display your brand clearly.
What will Amazon check?
The business address on your website needs to match your Amazon account address. Also, if the name of your brand doesn’t match the name you registered on Amazon, then your website should mention both of these names.
What if it’s not your brand, and you don’t have GTINs?
To sell GTIN-free products that aren’t your brand, you’d need to apply for a UPC exemption. You don’t need to have a website to apply, but you’d need a letter from the manufacturer saying these products don’t have GTINs. All the other requirements are the same as the ones for brand registration.
Would listing be the same?
Once approved, you would start to list by using your unique brand name and key attribute (UPC, EAN, JAN, or catalog, model, style or part number).
This is how things used to be, but brand registry is now suspended, as seen here. (Log-in required)
What will happen when the brand registry is back up?
It’s very likely that you’ll be required to register your logo and intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright) with Amazon. Sellers who have already registered their brand are exempt.
How long does it take to register a trademark?
You’ll need to apply to the US Patent and Trademark Office if you don’t have a trademark yet. It can take from 6 to 18 months. Then you will register with Amazon, which takes a few more weeks.
What if I don’t have that kind of time?
The trademark registration requirement is likely to come into effect in May. If you don’t expect to have your trademark registered with the USPTO by then, you could apply for UPC exemption. This would enable you to list without a GTIN and sell until May, if your application is accepted.
What if I need to report a seller to Amazon?
You can only do so after you’ve registered. Use the ‘Report a Violation’ tool to search for proof of copyright infringement involving the use of text or images. Then use the tool to report the seller to Amazon, stating why you believe there has been an infringement.
Where do I start?
First things first. Sort out the paperwork.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are not those of a qualified legal practitioner. We urge our readers to seek legal advice should they need assistance from an expert in registering brands with Amazon.
In addition, meet the SellerEngine Team at the next Amazon focused event! We’ll be exhibiting at the Amazon Professional Sellers Meetup & Workshop, April 27 2017, in New York.
Irina is part of the Business Development Team at SellerEngine Software. She’s an expert in bringing back to life Amazon Selling Accounts. Her motto is: everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, then it’s not the end.