Since Amazon updated its brand registry program for manufacturers and private-label sellers in mid-2017, there has been a lot of confusion about what the new program does and does not do for brands. Many manufacturers are unsure about whether or not signing up for the new program is even worth their time. This page will answer these questions.
First, our bottom-line advice: Yes, if you are a manufacturer, OEM or any type of brand owner whose products are sold on the Amazon marketplace, signing up for Amazon Brand Registry is a smart investment of your time.
Indeed, if you deploy the right online brand protection platform, you can even outsource the work necessary to become an official Amazon “brand owner” through its brand registry program.
Now let’s discuss exactly what Amazon Brand Registry is (and what it isn’t), what benefits the program offers, and why we believe signing up is worth your effort.
What is brand registry?
Essentially, Amazon Brand Registry is a program that allows manufacturers and private-label sellers greater control over their brand identity and content on the Amazon marketplace.
From Amazon’s point of view, the brand registry increases the overall quality and accuracy of information regarding products sold on its site — because that content will be more under the control of the brand owners.
From your point of view as a manufacturer, OEM or other type of seller with manufacturer authority to manage a brand’s content, the program provides you greater ease in developing and updating your product listings on Amazon — while also protecting your brand against counterfeiters and other illegitimate sales.
What brand registry is not
Keep in mind, however, that Amazon Brand Registry is not a program designed to stop third-party retailers — even those with whom you have no relationship — from selling your products on Amazon. For that you will need a comprehensive brand protection strategy.
The registry’s primary purpose, and its primary value to you as a brand owner, is to enable you to catch violations of your brand’s copyrights, trademarked content and other intellectual property — and to enlist Amazon’s help in having these listings removed.
What’s new about the new brand registry?
We describe in detail the new features and requirements of the updated brand registry program in our post, What’s New About Amazon’s New Brand Registry? But we’ll summarize the program’s main updates here. Basically, there are three primary new benefits to the program that weren’t available in Amazon Brand Registry 1.0 — and one new requirement to become accepted.
3 New Benefits of Amazon Brand Registry 2.0:
1. You can publish your sales content directly to Amazon.com
With the original brand registry program, sellers submitted product listings and other sales content through the Amazon Seller platform, and Amazon’s teams vetted that content before publishing it live to the marketplace.
With the new program, when you become a registered “brand owner,” Amazon will provide you administrator status (which you can also provide to staff and even authorized resellers) that allows you to bypass this step — and upload your product content directly to the live marketplace.
2. You can proactively search for intellectual property infringements across Amazon.com — and report violators to Amazon’s Seller Teams
Amazon’s new program also includes a search feature that allows brand owners to search the marketplace anytime — using keywords, ASINs, text or images specific to their brands — for evidence of intellectual property infringement or counterfeiters.
If a search uncovers an illegal listing, you as the brand owner can easily contact Amazon through the new Report a Violation link, and Amazon says it will take expedited action against the violator.
3. Amazon itself will now help brand owners stop illegitimate listings using its “predictive automation” tools
Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 also includes a new set of predictive automation algorithms to help prevent counterfeit listings and intellectual property infringement.
According to Amazon, when you submit reports of suspected violations of your copyrighted or trademarked content by unauthorized sellers, Amazon will feed those reports into its predictive analytics tools and use that data to spot future infringements.
THE 1 NEW REQUIREMENT TO JOINING AMAZON BRAND REGISTRY 2.0
There is one new hurdle you will have to clear to join the brand registry on Amazon: You will need a live, registered trademark for your brand. From Amazon’s point of view, demanding this proof of ownership is the best way of definitively distinguishing between a brand’s true owner and all of the other sellers of its products across the Amazon marketplace.
But if you do not already have an active registered trademark for your brand, you will need to secure one before applying for the new brand registry program. You can apply through the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Why applying for the new brand registry is worth the effort
Given the features available with Amazon’s updated brand registry program — the ability to publish your content directly and immediately to the marketplace, the ability to find illegitimate listings and receive Amazon’s expedited help in removing them, etc. — we believe as a brand owner you would be wise to apply for this program.
Every step you can take toward ensuring that your brand is represented online through high-quality listings and other sales content is a step worth taking.
If you would like help applying for the new Amazon Brand Registry, as well as help implementing a comprehensive, automated brand protection strategy, let us give you a free demo.
