How can you protect your brand on Amazon?

How can you protect your brand on Amazon?

Are you selling your own brand and products on Amazon? Then of course you want the best for your product. You also want to get as much out of it as possible when it comes to sales. It is important to come across as a strong brand. A powerful brand stands for unity and consistency. If this is the look and feel of your brand, it will also have a positive effect on the conversion of your products.

Therefore, make sure you protect your brand. How do you do that exactly? Amazon offers possibilities to do so. In this article you will read more about:

• The criteria your brand and products must meet to be eligible for trademark protection on Amazon
• How to apply for trademark protection on the platform
• What trademark protection looks like
• Which benefits you will enjoy if your brand is protected
  
  

Want to know how to get started? Please contact the marketplace consultants at Brandsom. We are happy to help you with strategic selling and brand protection through Amazon.

What are the important criteria?

Not everyone can use trademark protection through Amazon. Your product or brand name must meet certain criteria. What does that look like? For Amazon, the application for an active trademark must be pending at a trademark agency. Or, of course, have full registration. To be eligible for Amazon Brand Registry, your brand must have an active registered trademark in every country where you want to sell your products.

If your trademark is registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), you must submit the corresponding trademark number assigned by the national trademark office, as it may differ from the trademark number assigned by WIPO.

If your trademark is registered with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), please select EUIPO as the trademark registration office in your application.
It is also important to know that the shape of your trademark must be based on text (word mark) or on an image with words, letters, and numbers (design mark). The trademark does not have to have a complicated design. What matters is that the combination of colors, text, and font is unique and can only be linked to your webshop.

Where do you start if you want to protect your trademark on Amazon?

The first step is to create a sales account on Amazon. Do you also want to get started with registering your trademark right away? These are the steps to take:

• Your brand name has an active registered trademark. The registration is displayed on all your products and packaging.
• You need a registration number issued by the national intellectual property office.
• A list of product categories (clothing, sporting goods) in which your brand must be mentioned.

In what ways are you protected?

Your trademark is protected in two ways. These are trademark registration and brand gating.

Brand registration
It is possible to register your brand, so you have more influence on the content of your product detail page. So it gives you more influence and control. These are the advantages of trademark registration:

• It makes Amazon approve your products faster;
• You have free access to Advanced Brand Content;
• Without trademark registration, there is no Brand Gating.
  
  

With trademark registration, another retailer cannot simply hijack your name or product. It gives you more rights, protection, and influence. You can choose sellers who do business transparently and have the same image as your brand.

Brand gating
As a seller, you can also protect your brand with brand gating. Please note: your brand must also be registered for this. One thing stands or falls with the other. Why would you also use this? You don't want your listing to be hijacked and taken over by forgers who sell cheap imitation products. That will ruin your ranking in the marketplace. Trademark infringement and copyright issues are also part of it.

If you appropriate the brand, as a seller you have a choice as to who else can sell your brand. In other words, you select your own resellers for products with your brand name.

What are the benefits of brand protection on Amazon?

What are the benefits of Brand Registry on Amazon? This is what you benefit from as a retailer:

• Automatic brand protection
  Is your brand registered? Then Amazon uses information about your brand to detect and remove incorrect or incomplete content. The same applies to product mentions that infringe your intellectual property. Other sellers can then not just use your name or brand if they sell the same type of products.
• Detect and report infringements independently
  As a registered trademark, Amazon gives you access to track and report infringements independently. You can search with images, keywords, or a list of ASINs. Amazon removes the reported trademarks within a short period of time.
• Exclusive marketing tools for registered trademarks
  As a registered brand, you get access to Amazon marketing tools such as Enhanced Brand Content or Sponsored Tools. With these marketing tools from Amazon, it is possible for you as a brand to get more attention for your brand and products.
  With EBC, you make your product stand out by uploading custom content on the product page. EBC ensures a personalized brand presentation, more visibility, and higher conversion. Amazon Sponsored Brands are display ads strategically placed in search results with your brand name and logo.
• Design your own brand store
  Once your brand is registered, you can create your own brand store. This is a webshop within the Amazon store. The brand store is exclusive for your brand products. If you don't succeed, or you'd like to learn more about brand stores, our Brandsom specialists are here to help you.

Want to protect your brand on Amazon? Please contact the marketplace consultants at Brandsom

Are you curious about the possibilities to protect your brand on Amazon? Or do you want to decide with which resellers you do business? Brandsom is the marketplace specialist who knows the right strategy for your brand. Contact Brandsom today to schedule a meeting with our marketplace consultants. You can contact us at contact@brandsom.nl or +31 (0)30-2270520.