Amazon brand registration is too difficult! Sellers submitted 8 times but still got rejected

Recently, the industry has been enthusiastic about registering new Amazon accounts, but more and more sellers have reported that the difficulty of brand registration has increased sharply, especially for new accounts. Some sellers have submitted more than 10 times but still failed, and have no idea where the problem lies. Sellers who have been repeatedly rejected after multiple attempts are looking for "pass strategies" everywhere.

This week, an Amazon seller learned from the platform manager about some reasons and solutions for the rejection of registration and shared them with his peers. However, another seller revealed that even if the information is very complete, the probability of successfully completing the registration of a new account is very small, while the service provider can complete the registration in a shorter time. Is there any risk in this operation? What is the principle?

Brand registration becomes more difficult? Sellers submit multiple times but are rejected

There are more and more discussions about "brand registration rejection" in the Amazon seller circle . Many sellers said that their brand registration submissions have been rejected recently, and they will be rejected again after completing the information.

Most of the incidents happened in the US. These sellers were rejected 3 to 5 times, and 8 to 10 times. "One filing in Europe was successful, but the US was rejected 8 times. " "I and many people around me were rejected for new account brand filing, and only a few passed." There are many similar feedbacks.

A large number of sellers cannot pass registration. Is it because there is insufficient information?

One seller submitted trademark documents, contracts, invoices, and product images with product logos, and the trademark owner was the legal representative of the store company, but the registration was still rejected. Another seller also did his homework in advance: "Recently, the brand registration of a new store was rejected twice, all in accordance with the requirements, the application company letterhead was consistent, and the required documents including confirmation letter, product photos, and sales invoices were also submitted."

Amazon’s response to the rejection was vague:

As part of the registration process, we conducted a detailed investigation based on (i) information in our internal systems and (ii) the information and documents you provided. After careful review of this information and documents, we concluded that the documents you provided were incomplete or did not meet the requirements to confirm brand association or ownership.

One of the sellers applied for it three times but was rejected every time. Amazon’s reply templates were exactly the same. The seller was confused about how to improve it. At the same time, due to the repeated failure of filing, the seller was also worried about the risk of being convicted of brand abuse.

Snow, a global intellectual property manager , said that recently many seller clients have encountered registration rejections. Some sellers have all correct information but are still rejected. For some registration rejections, the reasons sent by Amazon backend are different each time.

He mentioned that one brand’s registration was rejected twice. In one reply, Amazon said, “It is impossible to approve sellers to use the enhanced brand tool. This tool is only available to sellers who own brands. The user must be an internal user of the brand...” But another time, Amazon said that “another brand with the same name was discovered”, so it could not approve the seller’s application.

What went wrong with the filing? Platform manager gives advice

The registration has failed many times, and sellers are also analyzing where the problem lies.

An investment manager believes that recent registration issues can be divided into three categories: service provider lawyer issues; the trademark holder is inconsistent with the Amazon account company; and TM mark registration without providing sales evidence.

What are the reasons for the failure of filing? How to solve it in a targeted manner? Industry blogger "Cross-border Entrepreneurship Xiong Da" got a complete strategy reply from the platform's internal brand filing manager :

1. When filing , the submitted materials are incomplete :

If the store registration company = trademark registration company

a. Trademark Certificate   -   If there is an R mark, provide an R mark certificate ; if there is no R mark, please submit the trademark receipt (trademark receipt = registration receipt = TM mark receipt) - If submitting a TM mark receipt , please first check whether there is lawyer information on the receipt.

The TM mark receipt has lawyer information, but the R mark certificate does not have lawyer information ;

b. Purchase contracts & invoices ; must be within the past 6 months and must include the brand name.

c. Product photos must be clear and include the trademark and brand . Labels are not accepted and must be printed.

d. We require sellers to submit brand images. We recommend that you submit i. photos of the physical product with branding ; ii. photos of all 6 sides of the outer box packaging with brand information clearly marked on the packaging. Brand stickers are not accepted and all brand images must be printed on the packaging.

If the store registration company is not a trademark registration company ; please follow the above requirements and attach a letter of authorization .

e. Submit a letter of authorization or transfer certificate . The letter of authorization should preferably be in English with official seals of both companies . If the trademark is owned by an individual , please sign , stamp with fingerprints, and submit the front and back of your ID card .

2. The filing materials are not professional :

a. Do not submit product photos that are not related to the brand category . For example, if a seller sells sofas , should he submit a brand photo of a clothes hanger for filing ?

b. Some sellers added some patterns when submitting photos of brand packaging . For example : the brand is Nike without any graphics , and printed on the packaging , Nike is surrounded by a triangular pattern.

3. The trademarks were registered by attorney Abbusive . The U.S. Trademark Office considered these trademarks as illegal trademarks , so the registration was not approved.

Sellers can refer to this to further complete the information, or check whether the trademark is an illegal trademark, and then try to apply again after confirming that it is correct.

Guaranteed to pass in one week? How service providers can “bridge the gap”

Due to frequent rejections, some sellers have given up on filing their own applications and handed the work over to service providers. One seller tried for a month with a store and submitted information five or six times but was rejected every time. So he handed it over to a service provider and it was approved within a week. The seller couldn't help but wonder how the service provider operated.

In fact, sellers who have successfully registered through service providers are also worried. Amazon’s habit of settling accounts later is well known. Is the service provider taking a shortcut in registration? Will there be hidden dangers in the future?

According to analysis by some sellers in the industry, the service providers first register the brand in their own accounts and then authorize the sellers. However, this also makes sellers concerned about the ownership of the brand and whether there are risks associated with it. Some sellers told the editor that there are new routines for brand registration. If you register in the same way as before, it will be difficult to pass the customs even if the materials are perfect. At present, if a new account does not find a service provider, the probability of successful registration is close to 0.

In the industry, help requests regarding brand registration rejections are everywhere. Sellers complain that new merchant account registration has become a problem, and they are rejected for various reasons, but third parties are doing a booming business because of this.

A seller used the previous method to register, and all the information was ready, but he failed to register for 9 times in a row. The seller had no choice but to find a service provider. The seller was very angry after several attempts, and he criticized the Amazon brand team, "The seller registered the brand properly but it was not approved, and there were so many problems."

Recently, the difficulty of Amazon brand registration has increased sharply. Is it that the platform has quietly upgraded the registration requirements, or has the rules changed? Sellers have not received any notifications and can only try and make mistakes in their applications.

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Brand Registration