Amazon updated their Brand Registry program and came with Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 last year.
However, a number of sellers are still not sure whether or not this program is worth signing up for, or what it does for your brand.
This seller’s guide will tell you everything you need to know about Amazon Brand Registry program, from benefits to FAQs to step-by-step enrollment procedure and more!
Let’s get started.
What is Amazon Brand Registry Program?
Amazon Brand Registry program is designed for brand owners to help them protect their registered trademarks on Amazon.
With Brand Registry, Amazon sellers have complete control over their brands.
The program consists of several tools that not only facilitate enrolled brands in protecting their registered trademarks, but also provide them with access to improved marketing features (like Amazon Storefronts and Enhanced Brand Content).
The team behind this program takes care of complaints against intellectual property infringement, listing issues and technical issues, and policy violations.
The program’s enrollment is a one-time process and is done online at Seller Central.
Why was this Program Introduced?
Amazon Brand Registry program was introduced to provide brand owners with a safer space, where they would easily be able to report infringements and enforce their legal rights.
The reason why Amazon had to take this step is because they had been the target of several lawsuits in the past that claimed that the security provided to registered brands was insufficient.
Amazon sellers with registered businesses were unsatisfied with Amazon’s policies. They had complaints against the sale of counterfeit products and IP infringement issues among other intellectual property violations.
In order to combat all these issues, Amazon introduced Brand Registry. The program aims to end the sale of counterfeit products entirely along with minimizing other infringement issues on their site.
Furthermore, it also provides brand owners with additional services to enforce their legal rights, and take responsibility of their brand’s protection. Amazon takes infringement reports very seriously and penalizes violators accordingly.
This program has helped Amazon to enforce their Standards for Brands Selling in the Amazon Store. Since Brand Registry authorizes brand owners and their resellers, the task of regulating them separately is no longer required.
Major Advantages of Amazon Brand Registry Program – Why Should you Apply?
Brand Registry comes with a number of benefits. This is the reason why every brand owner with a registered trademark is enrolled in this program.
In fact, we have seen many unregistered sellers go through the hassle of getting trademark registries only to get into this program, so that they may be able to avail its additional benefits.
So, what really are these additional benefits? Let’s take a look:
With Amazon Brand registry, you can
- Create distinctively attractive product listings (thanks to Enhanced Brand Content!)
- Report infringement issues much faster by searching ASIN in bulk
- Protect your trademarked logo easily by searching with the logo image, and then filing a report if any fake matches are found
- Increase conversion rates
- File for infringement reports much more easily with guided instructions
In addition to these benefits, there are 3 main advantages of this program that brings in the majority of the enrollments.
Let’s look into each of them individually:
1. Have Complete Control over your Product Listings
Amazon’s regular sellers have fairly limited options when it comes to creating product listings. However, sellers with Brand Registries have much more freedom and autonomy in this regard.
For instance, take a look at the module options that EBC provides brands enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry:
Look at these examples and you’ll know just how awesome EBC is:
*Stackable steamer pans by O’Salata:
* Turmeric Curcumin Supplement by BioGanix:
If you are enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, you will have complete control over:
- Description of your product
- Title of your product
- Images of the product
No other seller would be able to change your product listings. Only the Brand Registry team or Amazon Retail listing contributions can alter your listings.
Even then, if you think your listing has been changed incorrectly, you can simply go to “Incorrect Information” under “Listing Issue” in order to submit a complaint.
The Brand Registry team is much more efficient than Amazon’s general customer service so your concerns would be sorted out quickly.
Lastly, you would also be able to use Product ID instead of EANs and UPCs, thus reducing “match” errors at the time of listing.
2. Protect your Brand from a Product-Hijack/Hijacker
Amazon is no stranger to black-hat sellers. In fact, the most common issue that brand owners had prior to Brand Registry program’s launch was the sale of counterfeit products by other sellers.
However, with Amazon Brand Registry, brand owners no longer have to worry about other merchants hijacking their products.
The program gives sole ownership of the brand to the enrolled seller, and allows them to report complaints if someone even tries to hijack their products.
Amazon’s strict actions against product hijackers have resulted in a visible decrease in such cases.
3. Decide Who can Sell Your Products
Just as brand owners should be able to protect their products against hijackers, they should also be able to authorize sellers who can sell their product.
This is why Amazon Brand Registry allows you to decide your product’s retailers yourself.
Following 5 types of sellers would be eligible to resell:
- White label products producers
- Manufacturers
- Merchants selling their products with their brand name
- Distributors who have authority to own a trademark’s content in Amazon
- Private label brand owners
However, sellers would be ineligible if they sell:
- Books, Media, Video, DVD and BMVD, or
- Entertainment or sports collectibles
Difference between Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 and Other Versions – Added Benefits
Amazon introduced their new and improved Brand Registry 2.0 last year after combating initial complaints from sellers.
The new version has improved on 2 main levels:
1. Brand Support
Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 comes with enhanced support for brand owners.
The number one issue that sellers had with the previous version was the prolonged time period it took the Amazon team to address complaints.
To reassure sellers, Amazon has also revealed the reason behind this progress to be a new 300 strong US-based team allocated solely to handle infringement and counterfeit complaints.
Lastly, to make things smoother, brand owners would now be able to white-list approve authorized resellers of their products.
2. Brand Protection
The newer version of Amazon Brand Registry comes with improved brand protection features.
Enrolled brand owners can now locate suspicious sellers far easier by having the power to identify and display names of such sellers, origin history of their products and their landed prices and conditions of their listed products.
This version even relieves the sellers from having to do a test-buy before filing a complaint. This means that you can file a report as soon as you find a counterfeit issue without spending money on a purchase.
Moreover, brand owners would now be able to ask for legally identifiable information in case of counterfeit and trademark infringement issues.
Who is Eligible? – Requirements to Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry Program
Each Amazon marketplace has different requirements to enroll in Brand Registry program. These requirements can be viewed on the program’s page on Amazon.
However, each marketplace has the following requirements in common:
- Sellers must have an Amazon account either on Seller Central or Vendor Central
- Sellers must have active trademark registries in their countries. These registered trademarks must appear on sellers’ products or packaging.
- The trademark must contain text. In addition to text-based marks, image-based marks containing text are eligible. However, purely graphical marks containing logos only are ineligible.
- Sellers must verify their ownership of the brand by entering a verification code
Frequently Asked Questions about Amazon Brand Registry
Now that you understand what this program is and why sellers are eagerly signing up for it, let’s answer a few FAQs to further improve your understanding of Brand Registry:
1. What does it Cost?
Amazon Brand Registry is free to join.
However, the number one requirement of the program is to have trademark registration. This would cost you differently depending upon your relevant country or countries.
2. How long does it take to get Approved?
It doesn’t take long at all. Once you’ve submitted your application and sent the verification code, your brand gets approved within 1-2 days.
However, it may take longer if Amazon teams are busier than usual.
3. Are Private Label Sellers Eligible?
Yes.
As long as you meet all the requirements for the program, you’re eligible to register.
4. Where does Amazon send the Brand Registry Verification Code?
In order to verify that the brand you’re registering for is actually yours, Amazon sends a randomly generated code to the public contact listed on your brand’s trademark registration.
You have to enter this code back in the Brand Registry to prove your ownership of the trademark. To make the process easier for you, Amazon also informs you about contact to which they have sent the code. It is usually sent via email.
5. Can an Agent enroll on my behalf?
No.
You are allowed to hire agents later as representatives of your brand, and also give them access to all the tools included in the Brand Registry program, however, you have to enroll your brand in the program yourself.
At the time of registration, it is mandatory for the owner or owners to accept the terms and conditions and enroll in the program themselves.
6. Do I need to apply separately for each Amazon Marketplace?
Yes.
Since each country has its own registry, you need to apply separately for Brand Registry program for each Amazon marketplace.
The program has different trademark enrollment requirements for different countries.
To view requirements specific to your country, simply go to the eligibility page of Amazon Brand Registry program and under step 1, select “Review country-specific requirements here.”:
7. Can I see if a Brand is enrolled in Brand Registry?
Although Amazon does not provide any publicly available database of enrolled brands, there is still a way to check this.
A product will be brand registered if its product detail page has Enhanced Brand Content (EBC). It provides improved and richer product descriptions with more images, detailed layouts, and formatting.
However, since EBC is an optional feature, it’s possible that a registered brand may not use it. Therefore, just because a product does not have EBC doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t brand registered.
Another way to confirm this is to simply ask the owner of a product about whether it is brand registered or not. But this is not always possible.
8. How to use the “Report a Violation” tool to find & report Infringements?
Simply go to “Report an Infringement” within your Brand Registry, and select the “Report a violation” tool.
This tool allows you to search and then report infringing brands. The searching process is fairly easy as you can use keywords, images, and even ASINs to look for trademark violations.
In case of patent or copyright infringement, go to the “Report Infringement form” to file a complaint.
9. Does Amazon take care of any infringements for me?
Yes.
Amazon’s automated algorithm is being continuously improved through the infringement reports you file. This algorithm becomes smarter as you provide more details about your brand in the Brand Registry.
Soon this system is expected to become smart enough to take care of most of the common infringements, thus lowering the need for manual reports.
This algorithm aims to automatically detect the following cases of infringement:
- Images with your logo being used by some other brand
- Product listings with your trademark terms being used by some other brand
- Sellers making shipments of products from outside of the countries where you produce and distribute your brand
10. Is it worth it?
Amazon Brand Registry is a must for every brand owner. The program’s features and tools allow you to control your product listings, protect and enforce your intellectual property rights and avail many additional marketing services as well.
Keep in mind though, Amazon offers this program for free to give brand owners a space for raising legitimate concerns only.
Illegitimate concerns or abuse of Amazon Registry tools is not only strictly discouraged, but can also lead to revoking of access to those tools or even account suspension.
How do I Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry Program? – a Step-by-Step Procedure
First of all, start by signing in to your Amazon seller or vendor account here:
Once you’re logged in, follow these 4 steps to get your brand enrolled into Amazon Brand Registry:
1. Go to Amazon Brand Registry
Go to https://brandservices.amazon.com/eligibility and select “Enroll now”:
You’ll be asked to select the marketplace you want to get registry for:
Once you’ve selected your Amazon marketplace, select “Enroll a new brand” on the next page:
2. Enroll Your Brand
Start by answering a couple of basic questions about your brand and after entering your brand’s name, select “Next”:
Now, enter more details of your trademark – its type, number and country where it’s registered. Once you’re done, select “Next” at the bottom of the page:
Now, you’ll have to provide detailed characteristics of your brand on this page:
Start by selecting your product’s category, select your account type (seller, vendor or both) and enter your email address.
Lastly, provide details about your products’ manufacturing procedure and select “Submit application”.
Your application to enroll in Amazon Brand Registry is now complete:
3. Wait for your Verification from Amazon
Once your application is successfully submitted, Brand Registry team will now review it. It usually takes 2-10 days for an application to get validated. At this point, Amazon will send you an email consisting of a verification code.
You’ll need to enter this code back into Amazon Brand Registry. Simply log in to your seller account on Amazon and enter your Case ID (you can find this in the email you’ve received from Amazon).
Select the “Respond or View” button and select “Reply”. Just copy the verification code from Amazon’s email, paste it here and press “send”.
This is it! Just wait for 1-2 days for Amazon to verify your registry and once that is done, you will successfully be enrolled into Amazon Brand Registry.
3 Ways to check if your Brand has been Approved or not
If you’re finished with the enrollment process and are wondering whether or not your brand got approved, here are a few ways to check:
- Enhanced Brand Content is a feature only available to Brand Registry holders. So, if you’re denied EBC, it means your brand has yet not been approved.
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If you see the Unique Identifier on your product (UPC, EAN, etc.), it confirms that Amazon has approved your brand registry. However, if you see an ASIN, it means that your brand is not approved yet.
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The best way to confirm your registry is to reach out to Amazon Brand Registration Help. Simply call the Amazon Service Centre and ask them if your brand has been approved or not.
A Quick Recap
Amazon Brand Registry offers a wide set of marketing features in addition to protection for your brand. Since it is completely free to enroll and the sign-up process is fairly simple too, you should not miss out on this opportunity.
According to sellers who have been enrolled in Brand Registry for a while, this program can improve your conversion rates and help you gain customer trust.
In a marketplace as competitive as Amazon’s, you need to avail every opportunity possible to stay ahead of your competitors. This is why we recommend enrolling your brand into Amazon Brand Registry as soon as possible!
