Welcome Back!
Today, I want to share my story of how I wasted 7 months and hundreds of pounds on registering a trademark for Amazon’s Brand Registry, which, at the end of the day, turned out to be totally useless! This story just shows how fast everything changes and that you can never rely on old information when it comes to things like this. Without further ado, let’s get started!
Brand Registry Overview
For people who are new to Amazon selling or even for active sellers who are still not using Amazon’s Brand Registry, I highly recommend you sign up! It’s the quickest and easiest way to protect your brand, enhance your listings and unlock additional features in your Seller Central account.
Brand Registry is a place/service where Amazon allows genuine brand owners to register their brands.
After the registration process is complete, you get benefits like:
- Protect your brand from being used in other listings, act on copied products, help with finding potential infringement, copied images, logo and other elements.
- Gives you the option to use Amazon Stores. (Awesome!)
- Gives you the option to use Enhanced Listing descriptions. (Awesome!)
- Gives you the option to use Headline Search ads. (Awesome!)
So far, I have not personally had any experience with the brand protection side of things (hopefully, I will never have to do that), so I can’t comment on that. BUT for me, as a seller who creates amazing brands and wants to showcase my products in the best possible way, the most important and immediate benefit of being part of the Brand Registry is the ability to use Enhanced Listing descriptions (or Enhanced Brand Content Detail Pages, as Amazon calls them).
What are they and why are they so important?
By default, when you’re NOT registered with the Brand Registry, you can only use a very basic version of the listing description editor—it’s just plain text! However, with the help of an online HTML editor, you can add some simple HTML tags to it (bold, bullet points, etc.) but that’s about it. Your product descriptions will still be just plain text, which very few people will actually read. Here’s how it looks on Amazon:
Now, when you get into the Brand Registry, Amazon gives you the ability to use their Enhanced Brand Content tool to create VISUALLY RICH descriptions!
This includes creating your very own layout from predefined blocks, like this:
From this point, you can add your logo, product images, lifestyle images, reviews, text, headlines, sub-headlines and so on to create a MUCH MORE appealing listing description!
Something like this:
It gets even better when you look at listings in the mobile view! As we already know, at the moment, more than 50% of purchases are being made from mobile devices, and that’s actually an old statistic. In reality, it could easily be more than 60% by now!
When you have a normal text description for a listing, it shows an excerpt of that description when viewed on a mobile device. Then, you have to click through to read the full description, like this:
I hope you agree that it does not look very appealing at all.
But now, take a look at how an Enhanced Brand Content listing looks on a mobile device:
Massive, MASSIVE difference!!!
The product images are there, company logo is there, fully formatted text is there! All on the default/first page! No need to click anywhere or expand the screen to see this! All the information is easily accessible at a glance, which what buyers want!
You don’t have to be very smart to realise that these image-rich listings will convert much BETTER compared to ones with standard, plain-text-only descriptions. In my opinion, this feature alone is well worth going through the registration process to get into Amazon’s Brand Registry.
And then there’s the Amazon Stores feature that is unlocked with your Brand Registry account! Amazon Stores simply allow you to create your very own shop on Amazon’s platform where you can list your products and create category pages like an About Us, FAQ and other information pages! It’s basically like having your own small e-commerce shop built right into the Amazon ecosystem.
And what I like most about Amazon Stores is that it is SUPER EASY to use!!! You don’t need any templates for this. There’s no need to code anything or even use any HTML formatting! Amazon provides easy-to-use, premade layout blocks, content blocks and templates so we, as brand owners, can quickly create professional, well-designed shops! This is just another instance of Amazon really putting effort into creating a tool that HELPS sellers succeed. It is very intuitive and easy to use, unlike the solutions I saw in my eBay selling days…
There’s even an option to add a VIDEO to your store pages! Yes, this is where you can put REAL videos about your products or company to add even more credibility or to educate your customers on the product, how to use it, how to assemble it, etc. VERY HANDY, if you ask me!
Lastly, when people click on your BRAND NAME in your listings, they will be directed to your Amazon Store, not the general search results. This significantly increases your chances of getting even more sales from each customer.
The third important feature of Brand Registry is Headline Search ads. This is an extension of normal Sponsored Product ads and allows us to create additional ads that appear above the search results and in various other placements throughout Amazon:
These ads do not get as many clicks as normal Sponsored Product ads, BUT they are quite cheap, and I do get a good ROI from them, as shown in my latest sales update posts.
That was a quick overview of the benefits of Brand Registry for sellers. You can see the full information and read through the FAQs for Brand Registry on this page:
https://brandservices.amazon.co.uk/benefits
I highly recommend that you register as soon as possible to gain all these advantages and stand out from your competitors while protecting your main long-term asset—the BRAND itself!
Ok, that sounds all good and rosy, Andrew, but where’s the story? How did you waste more than half a year and $805 on this process?
Let’s find out!
How to Properly Apply for Brand Registry on the Amazon US platform!
So, the story is mostly about the Amazon US website. Readers who have been following my blog for a while will know that I launched my brand on Amazon UK in Autumn 2017. Of course, I immediately registered for Brand Registry on the Amazon UK website. That all went through with no hiccups and I was able to use the Brand Registry advantages pretty much from day one of selling.
Back then I knew that I would eventually want to expand (or at least try to expand) this brand on the Amazon.com (US) website too. With this in mind, I started to look into what I need to get done before the launch ahead of time. Brand Registry was obviously on the priority list as I knew how important it was and what a difference it can make to sales and conversion rates—especially when you’re just starting out and don’t have any reviews for your products.
At that time, I checked the rules on applying for the Brand Registry on the US site and saw that it was essentially the same as the UK. The only difference was that the trademark MUST be registered in the US, Canada or Mexico (Three North-American platform countries) and that they wouldn’t accept my UK trademark.
Yes, speaking of the trademark, you do need a REGISTERED trademark to apply for Amazon’s Brand Registry! It’s not enough that you have applied for a trademark. That won’t work. It must be already REGISTERED in the trademark database to be valid. And there’s one more very important thing regarding trademarks that I will show you in just a minute.
Anyway, back to my story. I thought, “ok, no probs! It’s sort of a good idea anyway to have a trademark registered in the US to protect my brand, so let’s do this!”
I have registered many trademarks in the UK on my own using the IPO website. It’s a very easy and straightforward process that pretty much ANYONE can do! The price is just £170 and the whole process takes about three months to complete:
- 1-2 weeks after registration, the IPO reviews your application. If everything is ok, they publish it in the trademark journal.
- 2 months is the opposition period when anyone can oppose your registration.
- 1-2 weeks after the opposition period ends, your trademark gets official registration.
So, overall, it’s 2.5-3 months from application to official registration. If you have a good, unique brand name with little chance of opposition, it should go through very smoothly.
However, the situation in the US is very different. Let’s start with their website, USPTO, which is much more complicated than our UK equivalent! The registration forms are very long and packed with legal mumbo-jumbo! It almost seems like they have done this on purpose to support the multi-billion-dollar attorney business. But, who knows…
Additionally, the timeframe for the whole process is MUCH LONGER than here in the UK! It can take anywhere from 8-9 months to up to a year for the whole trademark registration process to be completed, which is insane!
And it’s not a case that their opposition period is longer. In fact, it’s actually SHORTER!!! Your trademark takes just 30 DAYS from the date your trademark application gets published in the journal. It’s the many, many idle months before it gets to that point that makes this process so lengthy. Essentially, your application sits for months on someone’s desk until it finally gets reviewed and published.
I’m sure you can do it on your own in the US too, if you learn the ins and outs, read the small print, fill out all the forms, etc. But that’s only IF you have the time and inclination to do it on your own! I don’t. I simply don’t have time for that, nor do I want or need to learn how trademark law works in the US. It’s completely unnecessary.
So, what do you do? You outsource!
I’m very happy to pay someone who is GOOD and who will save me time (and most likely money too) to make sure that the trademark registration in the US goes smoothly.
I did a quick online search (well, I searched for a few hours as I wanted to find a good and affordable service for this with a perfect reputation) and found a reasonably priced and popular trademark registration website called Trademarkia.com.
They have good reviews online and their service for basic trademark registration in the US in one class costs just $199, which, if you ask me, is very reasonable.
They also offer various other trademark-related services, such as monitoring, dealing with oppositions, international trademark registrations, and so on. But for now, I was simply interested in getting my trademark registered in the US for Amazon’s Brand Registry purposes.
In addition to the $199 that Trademarkia charges for their service, there’s a government fee, just like in the UK, for registering your trademark. It was an additional cost of $275, which I would have had to pay anyway, of course, even when doing the whole process on my own.
So, altogether, it’s $199 + $275 = $474 to register a US trademark in one class using the Trademarkia service.
I placed the order via their website and the next day I received a form that I needed to fill out, which was pretty short and very easy to do. Then I basically just waited for further instructions from Trademarkia.
I started the registration process on 24th August, 2017 (just for the record)
Several months go by and I get an email from Trademarkia saying that there’s a problem with my application. The problem was outlined by the USPTO, and it turned out to be an issue around the products I had listed in my goods list. I did use a pretty large list of goods, but it was the same list I used for the UK registration and that went through just fine. In the US, however, they look at this a little differently, so I had to change the list to get my trademark registered in the journal for the opposition period to start.
Keep in mind that this was early January, so four months had passed since I started my registration. This means that for four months nothing actually happened with my application. No one had even looked at my registration at the USPTO up until this point!
The Trademarkia attorney explained to me what this was all about and offered two ways to fix this problem:
- I can fill out forms and amend the goods listed in my application;
- Trademarkia will take care of it for $389.
The change was minuscule. I basically just needed to change a few words, so I decided to do it on my own. Then I saw the forms I needed to fill out and quickly changed my mind. Again, it seems like the USPTO simply creates these forms so that trademark attorneys can charge us $389 for a 10-minute task.
That’s just how they work, attorneys/lawyers, what can you do…
Still, $389 seemed way too much for this simple task, so I asked for a discount and got it down to $331. It was still a lot of money, but I didn’t want to further delay the process, so I paid the money and they took care of it.
Lesson to learn: If you want to minimise the chances of your application getting rejected, list as few products as possible. You even can list just one, whether it’s your main product OR even not your main product—it really doesn’t matter in terms of Amazon’s Brand Registry. All they care about is that you have that trademark registered. Amazon won’t look into the goods you have listed in your trademark, not even the classes.
Of course, a more extensive goods list, and maybe even additional goods classes, will help protect your brand even further outside the scope of Amazon. So, if you have huge plans for this brand in the future, do what you have to do and list all those products in the goods list. Just be aware that this can create potential problems and also increases your chances of getting your application opposed by other brand owners.
On the 27th of February, my trademark application was published in the journal. A month later, it went LIVE! No oppositions, so I was very happy about that!
So, to sum it up, the total cost of this process was:
- USPTO fee – $275
- Trademarkia.com fee for application – $199
- Trademarkia.com fee for making changes in the goods list – $331
TOTAL: $805
I started the process on the 24th of August of 2017 and my trademark went live at the end of March 2018, so it took a total of seven months, which, by the way, is VERY QUICK for a US registration! I have heard stories of it taking a year and even more in some cases! Maybe I got lucky, but the timeframe was not that bad.
Ok, so far so good, right? I mean, I got the trademark registered in the US for $805 (though it could have been just $474 if not for that small change) in just seven months. Seems pretty good?
Well, sort of! 🙂
I’m happy that I have that US trademark registered BUT it turns out that I did not actually need it….
How to use a UK Trademark for the Amazon US Brand Registry!
Yes, you read that right! By the time I finished my US trademark application, Amazon had changed the rules and was now accepting UK trademarks on the US site too. What a bummer, LOL!!!
But I’m not mad at them. I was actually wondering before this why they wouldn’t accept a UK trademark in the US Brand Registry? Even though a UK trademark has no legal standing in the US (well, it has some but that’s not the point), I think for small businesses, it’s good enough to get into the Brand Registry.
Amazon realised this and fixed the problem!
Now you can basically use ANY trademark registration to register for the Brand Registry on ANY Amazon website. Here’s the full list:
And that’s not all! You DON’T HAVE to go through the registration process again on the US website if you have already registered for Brand Registry in the UK! Yes, you simply need to add a USER to your Brand Registry UK account. Just add that US seller account as a USER and it will be enrolled in the US Brand Registry.
Right now (May 2018), there’s no way to automatically do this, so you simply get in touch with Brand Registry support (not the main Seller Central support) and ask them to add an additional user to your account and give them your Amazon.com seller email address. They will happily assist you and explain what you need to do next.
To sum it up, if you have a UK or European trademark already registered, you don’t need to register a US trademark to get into the Brand Registry on the Amazon.com website.
Also, if you are already registered in the Brand Registry on the UK website, you don’t have to go through the process again on the US website. Just add your US seller account as a USER to your current Brand Registry account in the UK.
I really hope this is clear and will help people to avoid unnecessary fees and time wasted on registrations you don’t actually need.
And wait, there’s more! I saved the best bit for the end…
Word Mark VS Design Mark
In general, there are two types of trademarks:
- Word (Text) mark: this is when you register your brand name as a piece of text. Say your brand name is “Andrew Minalto”, it can then be used in various visual ways, logos, etc.
- Design (Logo) mark: this is when you register your brand’s logo as a trademark and, if registered, that logo is protected. If you change your logo, for example, then you need to go through the trademark registration process again.
As you can see, the word mark is stronger (legally) as it protects the name/word itself, not just the logo. However, there’s a big downside for word marks: you stand a much higher chance of someone opposing your trademark during the registration process.
What is OPPOSING? When your trademark application gets published in the trademark journal, it goes through a two-month (UK) or one-month (US) opposition period when other brand owners can oppose your registration. They could have a similar logo or name to yours and they can oppose your registration, which basically means they can create an EXPENSIVE legal hassle, but let’s not go into detail on that right now.
Sometimes they don’t even have much similarity to your brand name. For example, with my recent UK registration. Often, it’s just large brands with massive legal budgets who want to protect their brands, so they will oppose your registration even if you’re not an actual threat to them.
Anyway, when you register a design/logo trademark, you’re essentially asking for lower protection and this DECREASES your chances of getting opposed. Similarly, the fewer classes and goods you have listed, the lower the chance that someone will oppose your registration.
When Amazon launched their Brand Registry service in 2017, the only trademark type that they accepted was a word mark. Again, I don’t know why they thought it was a good idea, as most small business owners I know have logo trademarks registered. Even I had to register multiple word trademarks for brands I already had registered with logo trademarks. It didn’t really make any sense.
The good news is that now Amazon accepts both word and design trademarks for the Brand Registry! The only thing they ask is that the design marks have your brand name in the design, as a text. So, you can’t use just a graphical design mark with no brand name mentioned in it:
Most of you will have logos with your brand name in them, so this is not a problem.
And if you are new to the game and plan to register your first trademark soon, consider registering the design/logo trademark instead of the word mark! The cost and process are exactly the same but, as I have already explained, the risk of getting your registration opposed with the word mark is much higher.
In future, if your business grows and you feel that you want to protect your brand name as a word mark, you can always register it separately.
Ok, that’s about it for today. I really hope this helps!
If you have any questions about the information I have covered in this post, please leave them below in comment box! Or maybe you have a story to share with us? I’m always happy to hear from my blog readers and help if possible with advice!
Hi Andrew,
Do you know if we can still add a user as another country to an existing Amazon UK Brand Registry?
I’ve read conflicting things that you need to register a trademark in each country you would like brand registry in? https://brandservices.amazon.co.uk/eligibility
I know Amazon is always changing things and sometimes there are workarounds.
I’m a UK seller and would like to apply for a trademark in the UK and add a user as the US and Canada – do you think this is still allowed or is the link I posted above more up to date now and we actually have to register for each country?
Many thanks,
James
Hi James,
Unfortunately Amazon reverted back on this and you now need a trademark in the country where you’re applying for Brand Registry. So for Amazon.com you’ll need a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
In this case do you have any suggestions of how to get the US IPO? Anything different we can do to accelerate the process or any loopholes?
Main reason I am thinking of getting my brand registered on Amazon.com is because I’ve heard of many listing/product highjackers in that marketplace… especially if the product is doing well! What do you suggest?
Thanks in advance
Kindly
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
I would definitely suggest getting your brand registered, both to prevent product hijackers and also to take advantage of EBC.
Unfortunately I don’t know of any ways to accelerate the process.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for much for this valuable article!
So reading this, it seems like it really doesn’t matter what class we choose for the trademark.
However, in our case, we’re a website selling goods from other sellers and our own branded products, so we wanted to trademark for “services” for “online retail services featuring home decor”. Would this be ok for Amazon brand registry or do you think we should trademark for a specific good, for example “kitchen utensil crocks”?
I’m just worried that Amazon may not approve if our trademark is for “services” and not “goods”. Thank you so much!
Hi Shelly,
Thanks for your comment.
As far as I’m aware, Amazon does not care about the trademark class, so it should be fine in this case too if you’re using a service-based class.
But to be 100% safe, you could simply add an extra class on your registration (it won’t cost that much more) and register one “goods” based class.
OR as you say, the class doesn’t mean much for you anyways, so you could simply register the trademark in one “goods” based class and be done with it.
Thanks,
Andrew
Thanks for your response, Andrew!
Hi – thanks for clearing some things up. Can I register a design mark in any country (brazil for example) and use it in the UK – Im only asking to see if I can find a cheaper faster process ??
No, you can’t.
Trademarks only from certain countries are accepted – please look up the list, but last time I checked it was countries where Amazon has a marketplace in (UK, USA, Germany, Francy, Italy etc.).
Andrew
Hello, thanks for the blog!
I’m going through trademark registry at the moment and I have had sent my logo to them.
However I did not send the logo with the r symbol or the TM symbol.
Will this be classed as different from the registered logo once added on to products?
I have had my logo designed with the R symbol and another with the TM so I can make a start on trading or do you advise I get nothing designed in the TM and just wait until I’m able to add the R to products?
Hi Kylie,
Thanks for your comment.
No, that’s perfectly fine. You actually can’t use R before the trademark is registered.
Once your trademark is registered, then simply start using the logo version with the R symbol.
Thanks,
Andrew
I love the detail in your blogs.
Mind blowing.
I’m in the uk and just started an Amazon Ecommerce course and your blog has some mad info I can use alongside this.
Many thanks
Thanks very much! 🙂
Andrew
Thanks Andrew for great information you gave in this page. Do I have to register my business in the UK before the trademark registration?
No, you can register the trademark as an individual too.
Only problem with that is that, when you apply for Brand Registry, they check for name/address for the trademark and it needs to match your Amazon seller details. You can then send a letter to IPO and change these details.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andy,
Thank you for this valuable post. I had my trademark registration successful last year and I had used my logo for registration. I have also registered my brand on Amazon based on that.
Recently, I have changed my niche and want to change the logo. As you said Amazon doesn’t look for classes, so I am not bothered at the moment to apply again for a new class but for new logo, I will have to register the trademark again?
Or should I use the same logo and brand registry for a while with the new product and see how it goes and then change it later?
Hi Hina,
Thanks for your comment.
I’m not sure what happens with Brand Registry IF/WHEN you change the logo… in theory, Amazon won’t know this, so I don’t think anything will happen until you have a case with them or something like that. But, to be 100% safe, probably it is best to register a trademark for the new logo (unless you have a TEXT/WORD trademark, in which case, the logo design doesn’t matter at all) and then contact Brand Registry and inform them that your logo has changed and you have a new trademark.
That’s what probably I would do.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hey Andrew – thanks for this. I used it as my guide and have for a North America account now, linked to my Europe account that has brand registry. I asked brand registry support to add the NA account as a user and got the following response. Do you think the rules have changed? Though based on what they say how do you protect a brand in more than one region?
Thanks a lot,
Rich
Amazon message:
Please note that Brand Registry is a Region specific feature provided to sellers in order to enhance their listings and to have control over the detail page of their products.
Amazon Brand Registry is divided into 4 regions across the globe which included multiple marketplaces. The regions of Amazon Brand Registry are:
1. North America (NA) which includes US, Canada & Mexico marketplaces.
2. Europe (EU) which includes UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain & other European marketplaces.
3. Other Marketplaces (FE) which includes Japan & Australia marketplaces
4. China (CN) which is a region as well as a marketplace.
Please note that if you have Brand registry in one of the regions, then you will not be able to have access to the features of Brand Registry in other regions.
Hi Rich,
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, that is correct what they say – it has been this way all the time. I have NEVER said that you can access all Amazon marketplaces with just ONE Brand Registry account. In each region, you have to open a new Brand Registry account.
This article and the point I was making is about TRADEMARKS! That you don’t need to register a trademark in the US, but can use your UK trademark.
Hope this helps & let me know if you have any further questions! 🙂
Thanks,
Andrew
Ah ha! Got it, that makes sense. Super helpful. So where you said:
“You DON’T HAVE to go through the registration process again on the US website if you have already registered for Brand Registry in the UK! Yes, you simply need to add a USER to your Brand Registry UK account. Just add that US seller account as a USER and it will be enrolled in the US Brand Registry.”
Am I correct in understanding that you’re saying you don’t have to go through the IP registration process again (as opposed to the account creation process) and once you create a Brand Registry US account, you then ask the UK Brand Registry to add the US seller account as a user? I.e. the missing stage was that I didn’t make a US Brand Registry account?
All your guidance is so very appreciated!
Rich
Yes, that is correct. At least – that’s how it worked when I signed up.
But even if they have changed this rule now, you still don’t need a US trademark and can register for Brand Registry in the US using UK trademark.
I know that many US-based sellers are actually registering trademarks in the UK, as it takes just 3 months in the UK to get a trademark instead of 6 to 12 months in the US! 🙂
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
If you are applying for a generic trademark to use on multiple items (rather than items in a particular category). What ‘class’ should you be ticking on the IPOs website?? As there are 34 different classes of “goods”…. But not sure which class to pick.
Many Thanks,
Joel Reddin
Hi Joel,
For Amazon purposes it doesn’t really matter – they don’t care about the classes you have registered your trademark for.
Just pick one that will be suitable for your first product.
Obviously, if you want your trademark for other reasons (legal protection for your IP), then you can select and pay for multiple classes at the time of registration. But Amazon won’t ask for it.
Andrew
Hi – Do you think this will become compulsory soon ? I am a private label but just still finding my feet and selling small numbers. Also for every product i list I apply for an EAN exemption due to be a private label – does the brand registery do away with that ?
thanks
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for your comment.
No, I don’t think Amazon will require a trademark for all sellers, BUT chances are that if you will want to sell your own BRAND product, then yes – they may require you to have a registered trademark and apply for Brand Registry. This helps Amazon to better protect sellers from IP fraud and listing hijackers.
I still recommend EVERY seller on Amazon to get a trademark and register for Brand Registry. There are so many tools and features now that are only available to Brand Registry sellers that it’s simply stupid to not use them.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi,
So we are still awaiting trademark approval in the US and Canada… Do you think it would be beneficial to apply in the UK or another country with a shorter approval process? End goal is to be able to open a store front.
Hi Cabrina,
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, that’s exactly what many people do – apply for a trademark in the UK as it only takes a max of 3 months to get it done in the UK.
Then you can use the UK trademark to get into Brand Registry on any Amazon regional marketplace.
Thanks,
Andrew
Andrew.
Thank you for this post. Quick question,
Let’s say I have a EU trademark and was able to get into to Amazon brand registry. Does this provide me hijacker protection towards amazon.com (US) listing? Do you have experience in doing that? Appreciate your reponse
Hi Somi,
NO, Brand Registry does not automatically protect you from listing hijackers.
Thanks,
Andrew
Which country trademark registration link would be the best to use for fastest and cheapest registration, since the US one takes so long to register? My biggest purpose for it is brand registry on Amazon.
Hi Adil,
The UK one. It takes a maximum of 3 months to get it sorted (if no one opposes your registration).
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew, great stuff. I have a question, re-read the article and comments many times, but can’t figure out how to apply for the UK trademark. They ask questions like company address, if the company is registered, where it’s registered, etc. Should I just enter a UK address there? We are a US company. Read your info about using a UK mailbox. We are seeing issues where one customer complain, no proof at all, and Amazon won’t even let you sell your own products if you don’t have brand registry.
Hi Corey,
Thanks for your comment.
I don’t recall all the information they ask but IF it’s mailing address they ask – then yes, you would provide the UK based PO Box address. If they ask for company registration address, provide your US address.
They don’t ask for any verification there – the address is only for mailing purposes.
Thanks,
Andrew
Great write up Andrew! I encountered a similar issue where my TM application got hung up for needing a minor wording change. Although I had requested to make myself the corespondent Trademarkia still made themselves the corespondent so I had to either do loads of paperwork with USPTO to respond with the minor change, or pay Trademarkia another expensive fee to change a single word. I paid the fee just to keep the process moving.
However, I just filed for brand registry and Amazon sent a confirmation code to the “Corespondent on record”, which is an email belonging to Trademarkia.
Did Amazon also send your confirmation code to Trademarkia? If so, did you need to reach out to Trademarkia to get the code? Did they also charge you for this service?
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for your comment.
I don’t remember to be honest, BUT if it was sent to them, there were no extra charges for that, no.
So simply contact Trademarkia and ask them about it.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Again Andrew,
I was curious about that part where you talk about how it offers some protection in the US. What protection would that be?
If I purchase a trademark in the UK and someone were to trademark the same thing in the US under the same class or all ready have it trademarked in the US would they be able to say your infringing on there mark and just boot you off anyways?
That being said should you do a search in the US for the trademark before you try and register for it?
Hi Spencer,
Thanks for your comment.
It’s a good question and it’s hard to say how it would play out… If you register with Amazon, get into Brand Registry on the US site using UK trademark, you should be fine. But I have no experience with this so can’t say for sure.
I personally don’t bother much with US trademarks anymore as I have decided to fully concentrate on the UK and EU marketplaces.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Great post, just tried to do this but they’ve come back and said email is already added as a user. Do you need to use a different email address to open a US seller central account?
Hi Mark,
Yes, you have to use a different email name.
I managed to get registered with same email, BUT it took few weeks time and lots of support messages. I would recommend that you keep it simple and use a different email.
Andrew
Thanks Andrew,
We’ve already registered with the same email. I’m guessing you can’t change it do you know?
I think we may have to follow suit and keep trying via Brand Reg emails. A bit harder to get these guys on the phone eh!
Thanks,
Mark
Yes, then simply communicate with them via ticket system and hopefully they will sort it out for you quickly enough.
Hey Andrew,
Great article!
I had started filling out a the Trademark application and you require an address in the UK to register one.
What do you suggest as a work around for this? Should I just rent a temporary address?
Thanks Andrew!
Hi Spencer,
You can get a FREE UK mail box here:
https://www.ukpostbox.com
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Great writeup!!!
We are currently only selling in North America. We already applied for a US trademark 3 months ago, but I am looking in to do the UK trademark path to speed up things.
My question is: We don’t have a UK Amazon account, but is it something necessary for this process?
Also, do you recommend hiring a lawyer to do the trademark filling in the UK?
Thank you!
Hi Ahron,
Thanks for stopping by.
No, you don’t need an Amazon UK account to apply for a trademark.
As for hiring a lawyer – generally, it’s not needed, no. If your brand name is unique, there are no similar trademarks registered in the UK/EU and risk of opposition is low, you don’t need a trademark attorney to file the application. The UK IPO website and trademark application process is super simple, you can do it on your own in less than 10 minutes time.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your reply.
Upon reading the requirements for filling a trademark in the UK an address in the UK/EEA is needed.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trade-marks-manual/new-applications
(1.2.5 Address for service)
If my information is correct… what is a good work-around for that, since I don’t have an address in either the UK or EEA.
Thank you!
Hi Ahron,
As I understand, that’s just for correspondence – they won’t verify the address or anything like that. So, you should be ok by simply getting a free mail forwarding/post box service online. For example, using this company:
https://www.ukpostbox.com
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the informative post.
Your site has been so helpful and I really appreciate it.
We are a new seller on amazon and I’ve just registered our trademark in the UK as a word/text.
My question is, when/if approved and I want to register the brand on amazon, can we use our logo on the listings and items/packaging? Or do we need to register another trademark with image based?
It’s my understanding as long as our trademark text is in the logo then we are ok?
Is that correct?
Thanks, Luke.
Hi Luke,
Thanks for stopping by.
Yes, that is correct – a “word/text” mark, in essence, is STRONGER than the design mark. Meaning, if you have registered your brand name as text/wordmark, you can use ANY design logo for it – it’s still protected. And yes, Amazon will be perfectly fine with that.
Thanks,
Andrew
What if your UK and US accounts have the same email address as they are linked, it won’t let me know add the user as it says the email address is already in place on brand registry. Do I need to go back and change my email address or is there another way?
Yes, the same thing happened to me.
The easiest way would be to use a different email address.
I personally did contact Amazon and they fixed this for me, but it took a week or two.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I am registered on Amazon US Brand Registry with a UK trademark. Can you report counterfeit sellers for Trademark infringement with a UK trademark? I noticed their report a violation form only seems to recognise US registration numbers.
Please advise.
Hi Ekbal,
Thanks for your comment.
No, you can’t. This is the issue you deal with when going the UK trademark route – while it will get you into the US Brand Registry, it won’t protect your IP in the US.
That’s why in the long term if you plan on being in the US market, you should register a US trademark anyways. I also do EU wide trademarks for brands I know I will be selling in Europe.
Thanks,
Andrew
Thanks a lot! You saved a lot time for me with this blog post.
You’re welcome Martynas! 🙂
Awesome write up. Thank you for clearing things up Andrew!
You’re welcome Dil! 🙂
Hi Andrew
Thanks for such a great article, it has been the light at the end of the tunnel !
Just one thought I am looking at registering in the UK and the USA and then use the UK one until the USA one gets approved.
I think this would allow me to use the enchanced listing features to start with and then have the protection of the USA one later on.
I will carry on googling this but wondered if you had any comments ?
Thanks again
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, that’s def. one way to do it! 🙂 In fact, I even know US sellers doing this – getting a trademark in the UK first (as it’s faster) to get into Brand Registry ASAP!
Go for it!
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the great write-up. I’m in the process of getting one brand trademarked, and it occurred to me that maybe we could use this for our other products on amazon.
My question is, if you have one brand and product line with Brand Registry, can you get enhanced content for your other products that may not necessarily be marketed under that brand?
We are thinking of re-doing our labels to kind of umbrella our other products under the trademarked brand, but is all that necessary?
Thanks,
No, you can’t do that. Amazon doesn’t allow that.
Each BRAND must be enrolled in brand registry separately.
Andrew
Hi Andrew –
Thanks for the info, what do I do if my Brand Name is ‘taken’ in Seller Central, but available in USA USTPO TM database? E.g. My brand name is Green Apples, but I had to enter Green Apples Gifts in Seller Central. I’ll be TM ing Green Apples. Is this fine for Brand Registry?
2) if I am UK based selling in USA, should I go for USA TM first, or the less costly option of a UK TM just to speed things up? Thank you so much!
Hi Sam,
Thanks for stopping by.
1) You mean your display/store name in Amazon? It can be something different to your brand name, yes, that’s not a problem.
2) I would probably just go with the UK option as it will be much faster and cheaper. Then, when things take off and you see that the US is a viable market for you, file the US TM application.
Obviously, there’s a slight risk that someone else registers your trademark in the US before you do it, just so you know.
Thanks,
Andrew
hi
thank you for your real valuable information, its amazing.
i have a brand registry account in UK i followed your advice and contacted amazon in UK to add my US account to the brand registry.
i received a reply confirmation that it has been added, now i cannot figure how i gain access to my US EBC. i contacted amazon and they say that because the email login for my US seller account in US is the same as in UK thats why i cannot login from the US, so i tried to access it directly from my UK brand registry account by switching to US but it simply goes back to the UK brand registry page instead of arriving to the US page ,
can you please advice how i can gain access to add EBC to my US listing. and does it make sense what they are saying about same email address.
Hi Yosef,
I had the same problem – as I’m also using the same email address for both marketplaces.
Contact Amazon US Brand Registry support, inform them about this and they should be able to fix the bug/glitch – as they did for me. Now I can log in into both Brand Registry websites using the same email address.
Thanks,
Andrew
thank you for your reply
where will i find the EBC for the US market ? and how do i contact them ? as the only way to contact brand registry is via the account
i contacted US br and they have no idea what i want from them and recommend i create a new br account in US and ad it as a user in UK. just wondering if i do will i still be able to use EBC in the US seller account as the US seller account will not match the email from the br account.
i would really appreciate your answer
I’m sorry Yosef, I can’t remember exact details – all I know is that they took care of it.
Maybe try contacting them again, maybe a different person will have a better idea on what needs to be fixed at their end?
All I know is that they fixed it for me and I’m using the same email on both Brand Registry websites.
Andrew
Hi
Hi Andrew
Very interesting but am I correct in thinking that, even though a UK trademark can get access to the Brand Registry in the USA, it doesn’t help with list hijacking etc?
If you call the BR team about a listing hijack, I’m sure that the first thing they’ll ask for is your US trademark number. The UK registration won’t help at all unfortunately.
I’d like to hear any feedback from anyone with experience of this.
Thanks
Hi Mark,
Fortunately, I haven’t experienced this myself yet so can’t give you any advice on this….
Andrew
Thank you Andrew for taking time out to create such a detailed informative account of your experience. This has potentially saved me a huge headache, a lot of time and probably a substantial amount of money!
All the very best for your future endeavours!
You’re welcome Greg! 🙂
Hi Andrew,
Very useful post as always. I just want to say you haven’t wasted your time, when there are hijackers in your listings undercutting your price Amazon will not listen unless you have official trade mark.
Just a question please when you used trademarkia did you mention your registered UK one as I am going through the form and there is this question. I am not sure does this speed the processed or delay it?
Thanks
Hi Sara,
Thanks, yes, hopefully that day never comes though 🙂
Yes, I did mention that I have a UK trademark – I don’t think it changes much in regards to the USA registration.
Andrew
Hi Andrew , I was searching online about online business I could start when I come across your page, I have been reading alot about Amazon FBA, from The selling family and Amazing selling machine, and I was hoping to find a trainer that will tailor his course to Amazon UK, and I’m glad I found you here.
I plan to start your course this 25th that if there’s still available space, as I don’t have any experience with online business before now. I hope to learn every step I need to succeed with you as I tap into ur 15 years in the business.
Hi Chris,
Many Thanks for stopping by!
Great to hear that, looking forward seeing you in Amazon Sharks program! 🙂
Andrew
Thanks for for sharing such vital information, I have just currently watched the Blueprint Amazon free lessons and this is my first step in branding products, I just wanted to make sure that UK trademark can be used on the US amazon site and I put this question to James Anderson from amazon and he replied, “apply for Trademarks within the Respected Countries, I would check online for a Trademark Company to help you”? So I am rather confused at this moment in how to go forward from here? Thanks for your feedback.
Did you read my post? 🙂
If you read my post, you would know the answer your question.
Andrew
wow thanks andrew you always have the perfect info and at exactly the right time! I was dredding applying in the US but knowing i can use my UK trademark is so great! i was kind of screaming all the way through :O – and that can use it in the EU as well is crazy!? specially with it being so hard to get reviews.
Just one thing, do you have to click the ‘contact us’ button like normal to contact ‘brand registry support’ team, i was struggling to find it, so i can ‘Add User’ to my uk brand reg account.
Thanks!!
Hi Lynden,
Glad I can help! 🙂
No, there’s special support team for Brand Registry and you can contact them via this link:
https://brandregistry.amazon.co.uk/cu/contact-us
(or from your Brand Registry account home page).
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
Out of interest, did you “select all” for the class for the UK trademark?
As Amazon sellers, it’s hard to predict which products we might sell… I’ve heard that it’s a pain to go back on your registered trademark and add in extra goods under the class you have applied – you have to apply for an entire new application. therefore, do you think it makes sense to select all in the primary class you’re selling for the UK ? I can’t decide whether to select the products I am selling now, plus any i have looked at recently or whether to go for the entire class so I don’t limit myself?
Thanks for the article it is extremely detailed and great to learn about the US process
Hi Leanne,
Yes, I do select as many products within the same class as possible as that does not change the price of your trademark application. I wouldn’t maybe do this IF you know that there are very similar trademarks already registered and you stand a high chance of opposition – in such case you would be safer to just list products you know for sure you will be selling.
Thanks,
Andrew
I just checked with amazon website today, it seems they changed the rule again.
https://brandservices.amazon.com/eligibility
“To be eligible for Amazon Brand Registry, your brand must have an active registered trademark in each country where you wish to enroll” and they have the “Eligibility requirements by country” now. For Amazon US, it seems only US trademark is eligible.
Hi John,
That text was there before too…
I just tried to apply for a new Brand on the Amazon US and it allows me to use an international trademark:
https://pasteboard.co/HrW7Uo8.png
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello Andrew,
Would you say its better to register a brand trademark before you’ve done your listing
i have had my brand idea for nearly 8 months, however am currently building up finances though job and selling liquidation goods.
Am not in position yet to order in large quantities, however i could start the process of brand register ?
Kindest Regards,
Stephen
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your comment.
You should def. start the brand registration process now, sure! Usually people just don’t have patience for it and start selling without a registered trademark 🙂
Ideally of course you get your brand name trademarked BEFORE you order any goods as then you know 100% that there won’t be any problems with the name/logo.
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andy,
Amazing article and ridiculously valuable information.
I’ve contact Amazon on a few occasions, to speak to them about using HTML code in product descriptions, as I saw big brands were doing it on categories that weren’t allowed HTML (Other than ) and they NEVER explained it was due to the fact they were Brand Registered Brands!
I’ve had a trademark for a few months and hadn’t brand registered with Amazon as I didn’t appreciate quite how valuable it was, to do so.
So just a huge, HUGE thanks!
J.
You’re welcome Joe! 🙂
One thing though – BIG brands have another arrangement with Amazon and they have different, totally custom pages built for them.
Brand Registry is a different thing but it does allow us, “small brands” to have very good visual presence on Amazon, without making any special deals etc.
Andrew
From a legal standpoint your UK trademark does not provide any protection in markets outside the UK. Someone could easily register the mark if you didn’t and use it in the USA and you wouldn’t have any grounds to challenge it.
So you haven’t completely wasted your money as you have prevented someone from registering a similar mark.
Registering a trademark really does not need a trademark attorney, it is really straightforward to apply especially if you can fit your application into the ready made product types. I have registered dozens of them in the UK, US & EU and never had a problem. The trademark attorneys are a waste of money as they don’t really add any value, in fact on the one occasion when I did use one (when I did my first trademark) I ended up with a very poor registration as they really didn’t understand the nature of the goods I am selling, so I ended up applying for a new one.
Thanks for your comment Darren.
Yes, that’s true – I did not completely waste my time as I did get that trademark in the US.
As for others registering my brand as a trademark in the US – yes and no. They could register the word mark, yes, but they obviously could not register my LOGO as logo as image is copyrighted by default and no one can use that without your permission. Obviously if they would get a word mark, they could then have legal grounds to take my products off the US market as the name would be same (if they register in same goods class).
Trademark attorneys – can’t agree that they are complete waste of time – I have been involved in some very heavy/strong opposition cases where you would stand no chance of winning if going through it on your own. The registration part – yes, as I said – I do all the UK registrations on my own, I just hired out the US one as I didn’t want to spend time on those forms etc., but I’m sure I could handle them as well 🙂
Thanks,
Andrew
Can you use your US trademark for UK brand registry?
Hi Marc,
Yes, you can:
https://pasteboard.co/HnF52kM.png
Andrew
Thanks Andrew! This is very timely advice. I was about to go through the dreaded U.S. trademark process but that will change.
Good stuff, glad I could help! 🙂
Andrew
Wow, just discovered your site, lots of great information here!
I keep hearing everyone talking about having to register a trademark through the USPTO system (some say, without showing proof, because if not, the advantages of brand registry are not the same), but if it is cheaper and faster to register a trademark in the authorized country and then enter the brand registry in Amazon US with that, it’s great!
Thanks a lot Andrew! 🙂
You’re welcome Jaina! 🙂
These changes are quite recent so probably many people are not even aware of this!
Andrew
Great article Andrew, this is so helpful!
You’re welcome Dan!
Glad I can help! 🙂
Hi Andy! thanks a lot of these info! Sad that you lose $800+ for nothing registering your brand in US. Thanks to your post and amazon new rules, you save us lots of money and time. I was starting exactly the same trademark US process. ..Always good useful tips to learn on your blog. I guess I don’t need Trademarkia now 🙂 Thank you.
T.
You’re welcome Tiziano! 🙂