Why Did Amazon Take Away My Brand Registry and My Ability to Make IP Complaints?

We’re fans of Brand Registry here at Cabilly & Co., it’s an essential tool for protecting your IP, especially when your trademark is still pending, protecting your listings, and promoting your brand.

That said, the Brand Registry team is notorious for their difficulty in providing clear communication to sellers (see “Why Was My Brand Registry Application Rejected?”). This can make it difficult for many sellers to understand why Amazon can choose to remove Brand Registry privileges.

Why Did Amazon Remove My Brand Registry?

While this can happen for a number of reasons, the main reason we see is due to the brand owner or its enforcement agents filing false IP claims. It’s important to note that filing a false complaint can be more costly than losing your Brand Registry—you could get sued for this. Sadly, whether through misunderstanding IP law or cynically, many brands have frequently abused Amazon’s infringement reporting to take down competitors.

It’s important to note that it’s important to understand why Amazon has rejected your complaint if they do reject it. Even if your complaint is legitimate, Amazon may still reject it, which could also result in the loss of Brand Registry. But it’s best to check it against this list:

Filing IP claims to get rid of unauthorized sellers

Unless your brand or ASIN is gated, Amazon will allow anyone to join. And, if you are selling your products to distributors, wholesalers, or retail stores, someone who buys your product typically has the right to resell your product under the First Sale Doctrine. For example, if I go to Foot Locker and buy a pair of brand name shoes, the brand cannot restrict me from reselling those shoes.

While you may not know all the sellers, and while there are legitimately sellers you should be concerned about (like hijackers), if that seller has lawfully purchased your shoes, filing a trademark complaint against them would be false.

This is at least the case in the US, though Amazon does enforce parallel import in other countries.

Filing trademark claims in other countries

Typically, a trademark only covers the country in which it is registered. Therefore, if you are selling in the US and the EU, and you only have a US trademark, you cannot file trademark complaints against someone selling your product in Latvia—or even an imitation of your product.

Filing trademark claims for a pending or dead trademark

While you can get Brand Registry once your trademark application is available, and while Brand Registry can help you protect your listing from changes and defacements from malicious competitors, you cannot file a trademark complaint with a trademark application: that is, a trademark which is not fully registered and live. Nor can you file a complaint for a pending patent.

Filing the wrong kind of IP complaint

It is essential to know what constitutes a trademark violation, a copyright violation, and a patent violation. For instance, it isn’t usually going to be a trademark violation if somebody makes a product that functions similar to yours—Mr. Coffee cannot file a trademark complaint against Keurig for putting a coffee maker on the market.

Your trademark was rejected or abandoned

If the USPTO rejects a trademark, or if the trademark is abandoned, Amazon may revoke Brand Registry. For this reason, it’s imperative to do a thorough trademark search beforehand and give your trademark the best chances of going through.

Other misuse of Brand Registry

If Amazon feels that you are using your brand in ways that violate its policies, such as making a listing with your brand name for a product that isn’t yours, it may also suspend your Brand Registry privileges.

This happened to a number of people when Amazon changed the bundling policy, since previously you were allowed to make bundles consisting of different brands. Since Amazon allowed you to list the brand of the most expensive product in the bundle as the brand, many sellers would use a product from their private label. Once Amazon changed the rules, preventing sellers from making their own bundles in certain categories for the most part, Amazon suspended the Brand Registry privileges of sellers who had made such bundles under their brand names.

Account suspension

Finally, Amazon will often revoke Brand Registry privileges if the brand’s account gets suspended. Brand Registry often cites abusive behavior as a reason to deny its services to sellers.

How Do I Address This If Amazon Has Taken Away My Brand Registry?

Often Amazon allows you to appeal the deactivation of your Brand Registry. But they are going to expect full compliance going forward. To ensure you’re ready to prevent these issues again:

Get familiar with Amazon policy

Amazon’s policies on intellectual property are a good starting point, especially the Intellectual Property Policy For Rights Owners. This will give you a broad overview of what Amazon thinks is the most important aspects of IP law for you to know, including what they view as valid and invalid uses of your IP.

Also, it’s worthwhile to note Amazon’s warnings on their “Report Infringement” form. They write, in large bold letters that they do not enforce product detail page ownership and image restrictions (such as when another seller lists under your listing, using the copyrighted images you provided to Amazon) nor exclusive or selective distribution. It’s worth quoting:

Amazon respects a manufacturer’s right to enter into exclusive distribution agreements for its products. However, violations of such agreements do not constitute intellectual property rights infringement. As the enforcement of these agreements is a matter between the manufacturer and the retailers, it would not be appropriate for Amazon to assist in enforcement activities.

Get legal advice

While your intellectual property rights need to be defended, you also need to clearly understand how those rights work and their limitations. This will shield you from the liability of making a false complaint and damaging someone’s business, and help you understand how to approach complaints in the future.

While our blog covers many of the intricacies of intellectual property, and while I’ve linked a number of our articles, there is no substitute for having a full training specific to your company and your IP.

Ensure your trademark is in good standing

If your trademark is pending, make sure to stay on top of any office actions or third-party objections. If it’s live, ensure your trademark is not in need of maintenance.

Make a plan of action

Once you’ve gotten to this point, you likely understand what mistakes you made. It’s time to take responsibility for them and make a plan to show Amazon how you’re going to prevent those mistakes going forward.

This should include addressing any remaining questionable complaints, and setting up some supervision. Remember, this is important to help you to avoid liability—and, importantly to Amazon, to prevent liability and extra work for them.

Protect Your Brand Registry Status

Brand Registry is an essential tool for protecting your listings and promoting your brand. By ensuring that you are fully aware of Amazon’s policies (including those of Brand Registry), that your trademark is likely to become fully registered, and that you know how to properly enforce your IP—including the limits of that protection—you’ll be able to avoid this happening to you.