Amazon is in the midst of testing a new brand registry system designed to reassure vendors that sell on its marketplace that their intellectual property will be protected – which, up to this point, is something that Amazon has struggled to do.
In their latest announcement, Amazon said that they will now let any brand register its logo and other IP with Amazon starting sometime in April; thereby enabling Amazon to remove listings for counterfeit product.
The move is just part of Amazon’s larger initiative to reassure prospective brands that their trademarks and other IP are safe on its Marketplace.
According to Peter Faricy, VP of Amazon Marketplace, last year, 100,000 sellers sold at least $100,000 worth of goods in 2016. “This puts Amazon in the position where we can protect your product across the Amazon Marketplace,” Faricy said.
The brand registry, first tested in 2016, will be free to North America vendors.
So What’s The Big Deal?
According to Cynthia Stine, or eGrowth Partners, there are a number of things that brands should be excited about:
1) Brands don’t need to be sellers to join the registry anymore.
2) Brands can take down sellers for infringement which includes things like logos, using their name, trademarks, copyrights and IP, even if a seller used their own UPC code instead of the brand’s UPC.
3) It will be super easy for brands to do this without lawyers and the long time it takes now. Cynthia said that her team has already seen brands take down all their listings on the platform and kick off all the sellers for infringement. This will only escalate when the program is out of beta. Cynthia said she predicts a lot of cease and desist orders will go out to sellers for all kinds of brands.
What’s Next?
At this point in time, we do not yet have the details of the new/improved program from Amazon so it’s tough to take any specific action at this juncture. As soon as Amazon releases the details of the program, we’ll be publishing a “how to” blog post that describes in detail the steps needed to take advantage of the new initiative.
About Inovtech Services
Inovtech Services a digital retail agency with significant expertise in the Amazon marketplace and unlike typical marketing agencies who will charge you thousands of dollars in fees, we earn our income by purchasing your products wholesale and then reselling them – thereby ensuring that our interests are 100% aligned with yours.
