What Brand Registry needs from your trademark.
Amazon Brand Registry is Amazon's program for brand owners. It unlocks A+ Content, brand analytics, and Amazon's tools for reporting suspected infringement. Amazon states two basic requirements: a logo that includes the brand name, permanently affixed to your products or packaging, and a pending or registered trademark for the brand name or logo, issued by the trademark office of a country with a corresponding Amazon store. The owner of the trademark is the one who enrolls. Amazon's detailed requirements by country are published inside the seller login and change from time to time, so they should be confirmed at the time of filing.
The trademark text should match the brand name you enter, including spacing and symbols. A mark filed as two words will not line up with a brand sold as one.
A pending application is not a guarantee.
Amazon's published materials mention pending trademarks, but its own guidance has not been consistent about how pending applications are treated, and the rules differ by country. A pending application may also carry limits that a registration does not. Whether enrollment can begin before registration is something to confirm with Amazon when the application is filed, not something to assume. Enrollment is Amazon's decision, and no attorney can promise it.
Where Amazon sellers' filings go wrong.
The specimen
A use-based application needs a specimen showing the mark in use on the goods. The USPTO refuses digitally created mock-ups of packaging, images that only advertise the product, and designs placed on a product as decoration (TMEP §§ 904, 1202.03). What usually works for physical products is a photograph of the mark on the product, its label or tag, or its packaging, or a web page that shows the goods, displays the mark in connection with them, and lets the buyer order.
| Usually accepted | Usually refused |
|---|---|
| A photograph of the mark on the product, a label, a hang tag, or the packaging. | A rendering or digitally altered image of packaging that does not exist. |
| A product page showing the goods, the mark near them, and a way to order. | A page or advertisement that promotes the goods without a way to buy them. |
| A mark used as a brand on a tag or label inside a garment. | A slogan or design printed across the front of a shirt as decoration. |
A mark that does not match the product
The application, the product, and the Brand Registry enrollment should all use the same brand name, spelled and spaced the same way. A word mark protects the name in any style. A logo application protects a particular design. Which to file first, or whether to file both, is a decision made before filing, not after Amazon asks.
A name that cannot register
Consumer product categories are crowded. A name that conflicts with an earlier mark draws a likelihood-of-confusion refusal under 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d), and a name that merely describes the product is refused under § 1052(e)(1). Both are cheaper to find before inventory is ordered than after. See Clearance & Search.
The wrong applicant
The USPTO requires the applicant to be the owner of the mark, and Amazon requires the owner to enroll. A founder who files personally while a company sells the goods, or the reverse, can end up with an application that is defective and a brand that cannot be enrolled in the name Amazon expects. Who owns the brand is settled before the application is signed.
How this practice handles Amazon brands.
The brand name is checked against the USPTO register and common-law use in the product categories you sell in, before inventory and packaging are committed.
Applicant, word mark or logo, classes, and filing basis are decided together. Specimens are reviewed from your actual product photos and packaging before anything is submitted.
The application is filed as attorney of record and docketed. If Amazon sends enrollment communications to the contact of record at the USPTO, they reach the attorney who can act on them.
Office actions are answered in the ordinary course. Once the mark registers, maintenance deadlines are docketed, and conflicts that surface, including infringing listings, can be handled as enforcement work.
What Brand Registry does and does not do.
Brand Registry is Amazon's program, with Amazon's rules and Amazon's discretion. A federal registration is a legal right that works outside Amazon: against sellers on other marketplaces, in court, at the border, and before the USPTO itself. The two are related, but a registration is the asset and Brand Registry is one of the things it can unlock.
What to expect.
Examination at the USPTO takes months, and an office action adds more. USPTO fees are paid separately to the agency: the base application fee is $350 per class (see the fee table on the Federal Registration page). Attorney fees are scoped at the strategy call, based on the number of classes, whether a logo is included, and whether clearance is needed first.
Frequently asked questions.
Can I enroll in Brand Registry with a pending application?
Amazon's published requirements refer to a pending or registered trademark, but the detailed rules are inside the seller login, differ by country, and have not always been described the same way in Amazon's own materials. Confirm the current rule with Amazon when you file. A pending application may also not give you the same enforcement tools as a registered mark.
What happens if my application is refused after I enroll?
Brand Registry depends on the status of the trademark Amazon sees. An application that is refused and then abandoned no longer supports enrollment, and enrollment that relied on it can be affected. This is the reason for clearance before filing: the cheapest refusal is the one that never happens.
Should I file the brand name or the logo?
Amazon accepts a trademark for the brand name or logo, as long as what is on your products and packaging matches. A word mark protects the name in any font, so it is the usual first filing. A logo application protects that design and is a separate filing. Many brands eventually have both.
Who should be the applicant, me or my company?
The applicant must be the owner of the mark, and it is usually the entity that controls the nature and quality of the goods sold under it. If a founder owns the brand personally but an LLC sells the product, ownership should be put in order, with a written assignment or license, before the application is filed.
Which classes do I need?
Classes follow the goods, not the marketplace. A seller of kitchen tools, pet supplies, and apparel is in different classes for each, and each class carries its own USPTO fee. Which goods to cover now and which to add later is a scope and budget decision made at filing.
Can you help with infringing or hijacked listings?
Yes, once there is a registration or a pending application to rely on, and within the limits of what Amazon's own tools allow. That work is described on the Enforcement & Licensing page.
Amazon is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. Ortman Law Firm, PLLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon. Amazon's program rules are Amazon's and may change without notice.