Being brand registered is a massive benefit to sellers on Amazon, yet so few actually apply for it! I am not sure if it’s a lack of education or if it’s a hesitation to spend money on a trademark lawyer. Either one is not a good reason to not pursue a trademark for your label. In fact, I am a proponent of applying for a trademark before you even start retailing. Instead of just blindly trusting me, I am going to explain here the reasons why applying for a trademark is so important.
Brand Protection
Intellectual property protection is more important than ever in the Amazon world. There hundreds of thousands of new vendors every year and this number will only increase. As a business owner, you need to think long and hard about how you will protect the empire you’ve built or are planning to build. Part of this is a trademark. There are two types of trademarks. One is for the actual name of your logo. The other is to protect a physical logo design. By far, the most common trademark is the the name protection. In essence, if you own the name, you don’t really need to worry about trademarking a logo as no one else can use your name anyways. When I ran my business on this platform, I would get this type of
trademark and call it a day. Once you own the trademark for your brand, you can control your listing, who sells on your catalog, get access to registry and never worry about another
competitor stealing your trademarked name.
Access to Amazon Marketing Tools
Once you own your trademark, you get automatic access to an assortment of Amazon marketing tools. The big hitter is obviously brand registry. This is where you submit your brand name as the sole owner. You end up getting ultimate protection through Amazon. This includes control over your catalog images. Prior to this type of enrollment acceptance, a retailer would never fully control their listing. In fact, any Vendor at any time could theoretically edit your inventory images and cause havoc. Not so with the aforementioned enrollment. Another great marketing tool is access to A+ content and videos in your seventh
picture slot on your listing. The type of marketing one can achieve through a brand registry is pretty remarkable. To lose out on all of this simply because it costs $750 (on average) to get your trademark simply does not make sense. Moral of the story? Get your trademark and get certified!
Brand Registry Infringement Portal
I view this as one of the top reasons why being brand registered is critical. A common issue many sellers experience is a hijacker hopping on your list and selling for a lower price. Typically, these are drop shippers or other salesmen who sourced from other factories and simply copied your product exactly. Either way, by being certified you get access to an infringement reporting tool. This tool is handy when you see an unauthorized dealer show up. Once you notice, all you need to do is go to the infringement reporting portal and inform Amazon that an unauthorized seller is on your listing and that since you are certified owner of the brand and own the trademark, they should be removed. You can also mention here that the unauthorized vendor might be selling a dangerous product to this platform´s customers because you have no idea who this entity is and the quality of the product being
sold. Amazon almost always will take the impostor off your directory. They take both trademark law and the safety of their customers very seriously.
Increased Sales
Another perk of signing up for this is that gradually, your sales will increase. Amazon will
remove fraudulent listings and sellers as well as prioritize your label as it’s trademarked. There is also a tie between a brand registry and the Amazon algorithm which ranks products on search results. This will give you a boost as this platform values brand enrolled. business owners above the ones who are not. Shoppers will also notice that you are certified. As you will be the only one selling your label shoppers will take heed and shop exclusively with you. Customers really desire to purchase from the owner so this is a slam dunk benefit of being brand registered.
Now that we’ve covered the benefits of being brand registered, I hope you sign up ASAP and start enjoying the multitude of benefits that the program provides! Once you are certified you never look back. Every business owner should make this a priority.
PLUS don't forget to signup for my newsletter Amazon Insiders and start receiving weekly tips and hacks to help you dominate on Amazon!