Amazon whitelist "invalidated", strict brand inspection may be coming

The recent Amazon whitelist expiration issue is still ongoing. In addition, associations, abuses, complaints, etc. caused by brand issues also occur from time to time, which makes many sellers wonder what Amazon is trying to do.

Amazon whitelist is "invalid", the era of branding is coming

Recently, some sellers reported that their Amazon whitelist has expired. Expiration means that the store’s products have no brand, and they will encounter many problems during the sales process.

At first, the seller thought that his information was incorrect or there was a problem with the backend system. After contacting his service provider, he got feedback that the pass rate of Amazon's whitelist had dropped recently. This made the seller quite confused, as it was fine before. But in fact, it was not only this seller who encountered the same situation. Many sellers have encountered this situation since early May.

As we all know, selling products on Amazon requires product registration, and brand registration requires an R mark (i.e. a registered trademark). However, since it takes a long time to apply for an R mark, Amazon will first issue some whitelists for sellers to use in the short term. The whitelist can be said to be a "short-term pass" for sellers to sell products normally.

In addition to the R mark, the TM mark can also be filed and has certain legal effect. However, the brand protection of the TM mark is limited and there is a risk of rejection. Therefore, many sellers still say that they still choose to use the original method, but the review level is obviously much stricter. Some sellers also think that it is not bad to choose to buy a ready-made trademark. It is also good to spend a little more money to save the process and time of applying for a new trademark.

The expiration of the whitelist has undoubtedly had an impact on the relevant sellers, and their product competitiveness and risk resistance have declined. Many sellers who have registered well said that it is better to register trademarks and file brand records as early as possible, so there is no need to be so anxious.

In this regard, some service providers also said: "The whitelist approval rate is indeed low now, and the number of sellers registering has increased significantly recently, and there are many more sellers purchasing ready-made trademarks. As for the low approval rate, it may be because TM marks can now be registered, and it may also be that the various review processes have become more stringent."

For sellers who purchase ready-made trademarks, price is still an important factor to consider. According to the current situation, the price of R-marks in the market is relatively large. The price of R-marks with three or four letters can be as high as more than 10,000 yuan, while the price of ordinary R-marks is around 2,000 to 3,000 yuan, and there are also 7,000 to 8,000 yuan. A service provider said that if an individual applies for a trademark now, a trademark with seven letters is already very good.

Regarding the low whitelist pass rate that occurred this time, some sellers said: "Although the whitelist is not completely ineffective, it is definitely not a long-term solution. It is safest to apply for your own trademark as soon as possible. Who knows what problems will happen next." In addition, some sellers speculated that the problem this time may be related to the U.S. Trademark Office's strengthened review of brands and trademarks, which may be stricter in the future.

Brand-related issues occur frequently, is Amazon's strict inspection coming?

In addition to the invalidation of the whitelist, brand-related issues have frequently occurred recently, such as brand association, product removal due to malicious complaints, brand abuse, etc. Many sellers have been affected by this, with their accounts suspended and funds frozen. This has caused sellers to speculate that Amazon is strictly checking brands.

Some sellers said that Amazon's actions become more frequent when holidays and promotion days are approaching. In the end, it is just to make everyone comply with the regulations. As the sellers said, compliance has become a common topic in the cross-border circle. The recent white goods single incident is also true. Branding and compliance have become an inevitable trend.

As the new round of promotion season approaches, some sellers reported that their brand registrations were judged as brand abuse. Although such incidents often occur, the problem at this critical point makes sellers very anxious. As for the cause of brand abuse, the sellers speculated that there might be some problems with the text conversion during the registration process. The sellers then contacted relevant personnel and opened a case, but the whole process was not smooth. Some sellers were also required to verify by video: "The audit is getting stricter and stricter now."

A few days later, the seller received a reply that the brand was successfully registered. The seller believes that brand registration is obviously becoming more and more strict now, but it does not mean that registration is not allowed. During the brand registration process, you must carefully check every detail, otherwise it will be very troublesome later.

According to the latest 2021 Amazon Brand Report, the number of active brands on Amazon has exceeded 700,000, a 40% increase from the previous year (the number was 500,000 in 2020). In addition, 25% of trademark registrations in the United States Patent and Trademark Office are Chinese companies. It can be seen that sellers attach great importance to brands.

At the same time, due to the rapid increase in the number of brand and trademark registrations, some bad elements have also taken the opportunity to enter. Some people have registered a large number of trademarks, and then complained and threatened sellers to make profits. Sellers should be particularly careful about such routines.

In fact, whether it is a big seller or a small or medium-sized seller, in order to maintain long-term survival and competitiveness in the industry, it must have its own areas of expertise and unique advantages. Logos such as brands and trademarks help to strengthen their impression in the minds of consumers. For top sellers, branding has long been incorporated into their development track and has become one of their development strategies. Branding not only enables sellers to establish their own influence, but also prevents a series of spoofs, infringements and other behaviors.

In recent years, the brand awareness of many domestic cross-border companies at home and abroad has increased rapidly, such as Anker Innovations' smart charging brand Anker, smart hardware brands Eufy and Nebula; Zhiou's three own brands SONGMICS, VASAGLE, and FEANDREA; Giant Star Technology's own brand WORKPRO, etc., which have been welcomed by overseas consumers, and their overseas sales channels have continued to expand, strengthening the brand output advantages of such companies.

Compared with big sellers, small and medium-sized sellers are slower in the branding process due to limitations in business size, capital, product development, etc., and it will take time to form a significant branding effect.

Currently, as more and more companies go overseas, the previously "rough" overseas model is gradually changing and even being eliminated. The refined and branded overseas model has become the general direction for cross-border companies to go overseas. Sellers must keep up with the pace in the market wave and stabilize their foundation.

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